


AAY'HAN - The Mandalorian

by b0iledgatorade



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: F/M, Original Character(s), Romance, Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:47:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 63,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28891602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/b0iledgatorade/pseuds/b0iledgatorade
Summary: He had heard 'aay'han' be used many times as he grew up within his covert, amoung his people. But he never fully understood what the feeling of bittersweet, or 'aay'han' meant until he met her.[the mandalorian x oc]
Relationships: Din Djarin/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 19





	1. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐧𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐞𝐝𝐢 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

She was young when her parents had been attacked, almost 5 but not quite. It happened quick, almost too quick. A few smugglers had ambushed the two, claiming it was for the rebellion, for money, or whatever excuse sounded the best at the time. No one knew why they were murdered, except her.

By no means were her parents' bad people, not to her at least. however, it was clear that his face and his past were enough to worry even the closest of people.

Her father was a clone trooper, one who had abandoned the republic, a _deserter_. To those who did not know him, who only made assumptions, had jumped to the conclusion based on looks that he was still working for or with the empire. That was not the case.

As she grieved for her parents, the pain, agony and fear within the girl forced her to call out in ways she didn't understand and in ways many couldn't.

He heard her call, a man she would learn to call 'Master Windu'. While he was in hiding, he couldn't bite back the hope. He couldn't resist the call he heard within the force.

He felt her pain, her untamed emotions through the force, he knew it was a risk to take her on but without the chance of another Jedi and without hope where would we be?

Once he had found her, he befriended her, taking her into hiding with him. Something he would only explain when she was older, for now it was a glorified field trip.

As the years passed, he taught her how to tame her emotions and understand them. How to wield the force, how to duel, and most importantly how to be a Jedi.

Though her journey began with pain, anger and confliction she learned how to tame her feelings. How to live unattached, to be at peace. As a result, her faith never wavered, as she aged so did her powers, only growing, learning and understanding that her gift was not to be squandered.

Once she advanced from padawan to knight she was taken on small missions with her master, aiding to nearby villages or planets within the outer rim that called out in distress. From these missions she learned to be a better Jedi. Every day and every mission proving to be more and more rewarding, teaching her and guiding her to her path.

She was full of light, at times it felt as if a dimly lit candle, only gleaming on especially good days, and on the really good days, she could set the whole world ablaze with hope.

Today was not an especially good day, she could feel it in the air.

To her left her master was meditating, she thought aloud to him "is there anything we can do today, any missions, villages begging for help?" it came out almost deadpan.

her master laughed softly at her, "come sit with me, reach out and see."

She settled herself onto the ground beside him, her legs crossing onto the dirt getting herself into a meditative pose.

As she began to focus into herself, and the force she searched, looking out and into herself.

"It is calm today." He said, as he opened his eyes churning his head towards her.

"Calm? How can it be? I know the empire is dead, but those imps still linger everywhere."

He could feel her nod beside her; she knew she shouldn't have brought it up, but what she would do for something interesting to happen. The past few days have been far too repetitive for her taste.

"Do not let your feelings of adventure distract you from your true purpose."

She nodded to the statement, opening her eyes and turning towards him, "can we practice form VII then?" He shook his head in disagreement, "you know how I feel about you learning Vapaad."

She sighed softly, she would never turn to the dark side, but at times she felt as if her master didn't know that. There was something he had seen, an experience that had shaken him. She knew he had grown from it, even going as far to mention it in times of seriousness but she felt as if she would never fully understand or as if he would never fully get over it.

"Can you do the funny thing with your hand then?" she nudged him softly, her eyes averting down to his mechanical hand.

He had been doing the same trick with it since she was a youngling, it always lightened the mood, made the two of them happy in times of distress or boredom.

He rolled his eyes and flexed his forefinger and pinky in an unnatural way, causing a small wire to wiggle out as his fingers flexing in an unnatural way.

"will you ever get it fixed master? Maybe one day we can give it a paint job." She inquired as she giggled looking down at his worn out mechanical hand

"maybe" he nodded returning his bionic hand to its regular state and gazing off into the distance.

He seemed to be deep into thought and she learned over the years that it was best not to disturb him at times like this. She stood up as she came to the realization that it was best to leave him to his thoughts, lifting her lightsaber from her belt clip as she began to walk away towards her training area.

Today if she could not save people, she was determined to master form VI.

Her lightsaber in her opinion was in need of upgrades. Although it did have a heavily nostalgic air to it that gave it a certain charm. It had scratch marks riddled all over it from her endeavours over the years, adding a particular shine to the worn silver. The tip of her blade proving to be the most interesting as it was accompanied with 4 sharp edges resembling triangles dipping out from the hilt and landing just a hair from where her blade would protrude.

Windu liked to joke about it being her reminder not the slip and grab the blade instead of the hilt, though she had not been that clumsy for years.

As she began practicing, she felt her master leave the premises, off for a walk presumably. She continued for hours, going through all of her forms and teachings trying to blend them all until her body ached.

She knew real duels were much more intensive, she learned that from her Master. The way he danced with his saber, it made her feel as if she could never win and when she did, she felt as if he was going easy on her.

As the sun began to set, she took that as her queue to stop training, as she returned to their hut shortly. Upon her return she was greeted with her master holding a few books.

"Change quickly, we have much to discuss." He stated, his tone stern, almost demanding.

She hurried into their hut changing into her darker robes, the material flowy to her damp skin. Maybe training was a bad idea, whatever Master Windu had planned for her seemed important and she was worn out before the discussion of a mission or task even began.

As she rushed out to him, she found him sitting on a chair, another placed opposite to him for her. She took it quickly, adjusting herself comfortably before turning to him.

"I have a mission for you." He looked down at the texts and handed them to her, along with small pouch on top. As she reached over and took them from him as she nodded.

"What is it master?"

"You must deliver these a Jedi, Luke Skywalker, I want you to teach him all I have taught you." Her confused gaze dropped down to the books.

"Then you must ask to hear the story of Darth Vader's death."

"Yes, Master." she nodded averting her gaze, registering his instructions, her eyes flickering back to him in confusion.

"Master how does he know Darth Vader?"

"He knows of Vader because he is the one who killed him. I too knew him once, but I can only tell you how he came to be, he can tell you how he came to an end."

"You knew Darth Vader?" her concerned tone cut like a knife, maybe this was the root of his doubts toward her.

"I knew Anakin Skywalker, A Jedi Knight." He corrected, his face contorting into a sullen expression, though it may have been years ago, he still remembers the time of the Jedi Order and the Republic like it was yesterday.

"A Jedi?" She questioned, is that how he came to be, through the Order?

"He was Obi-Wan Kenobi's Padawan, he trained Ahsoka Tano....He was the chosen one. He is the Jedi that became Darth Vader."

"Why?" was all she could think to say, maybe there was nothing to say.

"There was conflict within him from the beginning, his love for others, his anger and his persuasion towards the dark side led him to the path of the Sith. I was struck down because of it."

"But Master you said Darth Sidious-"

"-Darth Sidious held the blade; Anakin was the cause of it... This is why I will not let you learn form VII. it is too close to the dark side, I cannot have another go down that path by _my_ hand."

She nodded in agreement as she looked up at her master and gestured to the texts "I understand that now Master...but how will I find Luke?"

"That I do not know, he has companions, it may prove easier to find them. Have them lead you to him." She nodded.

"Once you complete this task you will be granted with the rank of Master."

"But Master I haven't trained a padawan, I-"

"- You need not too. You are balanced, I feel the light within you. It is strong, stronger than I could have hoped for."

He looked off into the sunset, as the darkness was beginning to take over the night he felt at peace, free.

"I have taught you all I know; it is time for you to teach others. You should leave tomorrow morning. You are free to take all of our credits, that should be more than enough for you to find Skywalker."

The air was bittersweet, this was all she was hoping for, to be the best, for the validation of Master but to leave her own Master left a sorrow taste in her mouth. She was not ready for these growing pains.

"What will you do, Master Windu?" the question needed to be asked but she didn't know if she wanted to know the answer.

"My time has come." He said, she could feel his emotions pouring out of him. It was bittersweet to the both of them, but they both knew not to linger on the feeling.

"Will I see you again?" she asked, hopeful, maybe this wasn't the end of their chapter.

"You can count on it. I will be there when you need me most, just as the force is with us all."

She nodded softly; she knew what this meant. She didn't dare utter it, but she smiled at him, reaching over to him across the distance between the chairs to embrace him in a hug.

"Thank you, Master." She said softly, he nodded hugging her back.

"Thank you, Asora. Now go rest, before you break my bones some more." He joked softly, turning back to gaze at the nightsky as they parted ways.

"Goodnight Master"

"Goodnight, Asora."

He was more at peace than she had ever seen him, though he always seemed at peace tonight he seemed free.

The night was fresh, and the morning looming in the distance, she went to sleep knowing not what it held.

When she awoke, she was greeted with a certain emptiness in the hut, as she packed her things into a bag and put on her armor, she began to realize it was far too quiet.

Once she adjusted her pauldrons, vambraces and small chest plate, both made of Republic clone armor as memorable ode to her father. She had previously painted the armor to make it less obvious, but it was still noticeable if you saw imperials enough.

Her Master claimed in the past that it had resembled Obi-Wan's during the Clone Wars. Although she had only met Obi-Wan once on a mission with Windu on Tatooine he wore no armor, so it was beyond her if it was a correct comparison. However, she enjoyed the compliment anyways.

She patted her slightly tattered grey robes adjusting her belt over them and clipped her saber into place on her belt swiftly. Once she collected her belongings she walked out into the entryway, where she was met with the Jedi texts meant for Luke Skywalker at her feet, however beside the books laid her master's saber.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, she picked it up and began walking towards Windu's room. As she entered, she began to realize he was gone, leaving only his robes laid out onto the bed and a few of his belongings left throughout the room.

She nodded softly, letting out a sigh as she rubbed her hands over her face.

He really was gone.

She knew he had become a part of the force; it would make no sense for him to leave in the middle of the night. He told her stories of this, of it happening to Yoda. But this was hard for her to grasp in the moment, maybe this was a part of her mission. To begin by overcoming and understanding the loss of a loved one in order to fully become a Master.

Whatever explanation she had for it, it was enough to get her moving. she knew both explanations were rational, but she needed to begin her mission.

She smiled softly as she patted the clothes on the bed and looking up as she closed her eyes having one last moment where she was with him, her master in their hut.

Smiling she whispered "May the force be with you, wherever you are Master."

As she began to level her head as she walked out, putting her boots on. Those too had painted clone armor attached on top of them, while they weren't the comfiest of robes, they made her feel safe, at home even.

She clipped her master's saber to her other hip, picked up the texts and left, the sun still rising in the distance. The day was still new, and she was still full of adventure.

A bittersweet goodbye was only the beginning.


	2. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐨: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Jedi begins her quest, and she meets a peculiar Mandalorian along the way

Many months had passed since her mission began and her search was still coming up empty handed.

She only had the name of a smuggler to go off of, a man by the name of 'Han Solo' was mentioned in passing by a few Duros men in a cantina in the Outer Rim. Even from that tip she didn't know how he was associated with Skywalker all she knew was that he knew a Jedi.

To her that seemed like a good enough clue to pursue. However not having a ship proved to make the searching process much harder.

In the few days following this clue she managed to purchase her U-Wing, using the mind tricks her master taught her to swindle her way into purchasing it. She had used Jedi mind tricks before, not to purchase anything big like this, but it was always good to try.

On an offhand attempt she ended up buying the ship for half the asking credits, leaving her with more than enough for gas but that was only a month ago.

Now she was in the middle of no-where on Tatooine, in a Cantina just hoping for him to show up. She had been tracking him for a bit now, she had no idea if he knew but she hoped he didn't.

The Empire was after him, she knew that but there wasn't anything she couldn't handle. However, the fact that he was a Mandalorian had stopped her from interacting with him. He had been a risk in her eyes, but that risk had a high reputation within the bounty hunting guild and that reputation alone was good enough for her. If she was to ask anyone for help finding Han Solo it had to be him.

She watched as he interacted with the droid, he seemed to be asking for any bounty's and before she could notice Toro Calican interact with him. She quickly finished off her ardees as she placed her credits on the bar and stood up to leave, walking off hastily towards the docking bay.

There was something in the air, it felt as if puzzle pieces were molding together, the closer she got to the Mos Eisley spaceport and repair bay. She could feel the force, there was another who was akin to it in one of the bays.

She entered bay three, her legs leading her to Peli Motto.

She had been acquainted with Peli Motto before, she had Peli working on her ship earlier in the week but for now it was parked in bay five.

"What're you doing back so soon? You know your ships docked in bay five." Peli exclaimed, holding a small green being in her arms as she walked over to her.

"Oh, I know. I came to meet him." She chimed as she looked down at the child, trying to connect with him through the force, greeting him as kindly as possible.

"Oh! You know the Mandalorian?" She asked, her tone shocked. From what she had known of Asora, she talked to no one, at least on Tatooine anyways.

"Not quite, do you know where he may be?" she asked, her gaze still settled on the child. She knew where the Mandalorian was, her main focus at the moment was trying to connect with him but, he seemed tired. He only displayed his interest in her with lightly perked up ears and cooing noises.

"I believe he went to find a guild member to get a bounty, he left this poor little guy on the ship all alone."

She nodded in agreement, "I thought the Bounty Guild no longer operated on Tatooine?" she questioned, her eyes flickering back up to Peli.

"Oh yea, you never know with these bounty hunters though, always finding work somehow."

She nodded in agreement, then looking back at the door. It may be best for her to find him rather than him coming back to find her.

"Well, I must be going. Do you need help with anything before I leave?" she questioned, smiling brightly at her, while she did have a task at hand it was always a good gesture to ask if someone needed help.

"Unless you know how to get a baby to sleep, I think we'll be fine." Peli joked as she rocked the baby softly in her arms.

Asora laughed softly and nodded, "Okay."

As she left the docking bay she stopped for a moment, looking around the nearby settlement and opting to settle herself on the beaten sand beside the bay, moving to a less visible area to meditate.

As she situated herself criss-cross she began reaching out, asking the force to aid her in her search for him.

He was occupied arranging his mission with Toro Calican, they were going deeper into desert than she desired to go. She sighed softly as she opened her eyes again.

Toro Calican had been hanging around Tatooine offering his bounty to whoever would help him get into a guild, while she wanted to accept his offer there was something that didn't sit well about him with her.

He carried himself in an odd way, she wasn't too fond of bounty hunters and a foolish one wasn't a good companion to keep. Even a child knew that.

At times like these she wished for her master. She found time passed quicker with a companion, and these days it felt as if all she had was time.

She stood up, brushing herself off and flipped her cloak up, walking back towards her docking bay.

If she were to do anything productive today, she wished for it to be working on her droid. It was newly purchased from the Jawa's. She gave them as many credits for it as she could spare. She was hoping to reprogram the MR-T3 into a suitable astromech droid that would aid her in her travels.

She spent her night fiddling with its parts, fixing the bucket of wires as quickly as she could manage however, she knew this project would take her at least a week to complete. As the two suns set on Tatooine she began to realize the Mandalorian would not be back anytime soon, she decided to proposition him tomorrow instead.

Though she thought it would be best to stake out his hangar overnight just in case he returned. She dusted her armor off, putting it on quickly and grabbing her sabers clipping them to her sides as she strode out on. Making her way towards his hangar as stealthily as possible.

She walked herself as quietly as possible to the Mandalorian's docking bay. She only needed to wait a few moments before Toro returned, quite a while before the Mandalorian. He parked his speeder lazily and rushed into the bay, what business did he have in there?

She did not have to wait long for the Mandalorian to arrive, the annoyance radiating off of him as he strode into the space port after Toro.

She hid herself to her best ability until he entered the bay, quietly following him. Hopefully his frustration would distract him from her pursuit of him.

"Took you long enough Mando" Toro's voice echoed through the room, she was just barely through the doorway, stopping before she could enter to eavesdrop.

The Mandalorian's blaster was raised towards his ship where Toro's voice had previously resonated from, the tension in the air almost intoxicating.

She walked out of the doorway as they began stepping out from the shadows of the Mandalorian's ship, Toro pushing Peli forward as he held the child with his other arm.

"Looks like I'm calling the shots now, huh partner?" he called out, his tone smug making a clear attempt to sound menacing.

She began to walk forward, not in the line of view between them or Mando but close enough to see the situation unfold.

"Drop your blaster and raise 'em."

The Mandalorian proceeded to drop his blaster onto the ground as directed, the three nearing him slowly as he began to seemingly surrender.

"Cuff him." Toro instructed Peli as he craned his head down to look at the noisy child he was rocking in his arm.

I gave Peli a nod as we made eye contact, pushing my hood back as I spoke aloud to Toro.

"I didn't take you for a snake, Toro."

She moved closer, situating herself beside the Mandalorian as she stared him down, awaiting a response.

He raised his blaster, aiming at her, "Mando is a Guild Traitor, he is the snake here."

Though she could not see it the Mandalorian was side eyeing her. He could handle himself, that much he knew, but why was she here, and who was she?

"And I'm willing to bet that this here is the target he let escape." Toro defended as he aimed his blaster at the child.

She smiled and nodded turning to the Mandalorian and Peli who was moving behind him to cuff him. She rose her hand calling on the force, yanking his blaster from him, and taking it into her own hand from the air.

"Guns are uncivilized." She smiled before walking closer to him.

She heard Peli whisper to Mando that he was 'smarter than he looked' as she neared him.

"Bringing him in will make me a member of the guild... it'll make me legendary." He defended as she began nearing him, wielding his own blaster on him.

"Give me the child Toro. Do not make me strike you down." He laughed at the statement as he looked over towards the child then towards Asora.

There was a moment of silence before she sighed "Once a fool, always a fool." moving the blaster towards his chest as she moved her finger towards the trigger to shoot. But, as she began to pull down onto the trigger a bright light engulfed the room, stunning them both for a moment.

She regained her senses quickly and dropped the blaster but not before the Mandalorian ran around the two of them, shooting Toro in the head.

She rushed over towards the child, the fear in him leading them towards each other. She picked him up swiftly and began checking him for injuries, silently communicating with him through the force in attempt to reassure him that he was safe. As his fear quickly dwindled down his ears perked up and he cooed softly smiling at her, the two nodding at each other.

 _Finally_ , they had met.

She walked back to the two, the Mandalorian giving her what she could only assume was a glare, she couldn't tell through his visor. To her it just seemed like a blank gaze, but she could only guess that it was unwelcome.

"Where you hiding from us?" she cooed at him softly, petting his ears as she did so, as he cooed in acknowledgement "That's alright, that was really loud for your big old ears wasn't it?" she smiled at him softly and looked up at her with what Asora could only assume was a thankful gaze.

As the Mandalorian was preoccupied with grabbing the credits from the now dead rookie bounty hunter she spoke to Peli softly "I should have come sooner, he did not hold you hostage for, long did he?"

"Oh, not too long." She shrugged it off, then turned to Mando as he returned to the three of them.

"Who are you?" he questioned, he already knew who she was, she was tracking him for the past few days, he assumed she was another bounty hunter, but he had not heard or seen of her when he was in the guild.

"I am Asora Sett." She said as she looked over to him, her face expressionless to him.

"Give me the child." He said in acknowledgement, it was clear to her that he thought nothing of her, maybe even took her for another bounty hunter.

"Of course, though I have a favour to ask of you?" she questioned and she hastily handed the child over. Maybe he did not know that the child was a Jedi, but she hoped if he did that, he could _at least_ point her to Luke Skywalker or Han Solo.

A foolish thought.

"What." He didn't seem fond of this, while she might have tried to aid him just moments ago, he wasn't too keen on doing any favors for anyone. Especially since he was running from the Guild and the Imperials.

"I need help tracking someone down, he goes by the name of Han Solo... I can pay well and it looks like you're in need of some credits." Her voice almost cracked, something about this man just had her on her toes, something almost daunting about his monotonous bluntness.

"I can't help you, keep your credits." He responded, his voice strong and blunt, even a droid could take the hint that he wasn't in the mood to have another person to deal with.

"I take it you didn't get paid." Peli said as she was waving her hands back and forth awkwardly, moving her hands up to her hips as she sighed.

He took out the pouch he took from Toro and poured the surprising amount of credits into her hands, "that cover me?"

"Yea, yea this is gonna cover you..." her voice was trying to hide her excitement, Asora smiled at her and her eyes returning back to the Mandalorian.

"Mandalorian, You should try to keep the child safe. He is more special than you may know." Asora said as she looked down to the small green child in his arms, offering the child a small smile before looking back towards the Mandalorian her gaze lingering on his shiny beskar helmet, before flickering back towards to the perky child.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion at her statement, trying not to give it too much thought, but it lingered in the back of his mind, what did that mean?

She left them quickly after, returning to her ship.

Han Solo could wait, she needed to ensure the child's safety in whatever way she could. She understood that the Mandalorians were a force to be reckoned with, valiant hunters but she could not place her trust in him. The child needed someone who understood him, not just as a father but as a mentor. And the Mandalorian just proved his lack of understanding of the importance of the child, leaving him in a ship to be used as a prop in a hostage situation.

Valiant hunter or not, he had no idea what he was dealing with.

She sighed as she began booting up her ship, it was going to be a _long_ night of tracking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫! 𝐚𝐡𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐭! 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐳𝐞!
> 
> 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬!
> 
> 𝐩.𝐬. 𝐢 𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐳 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚? 𝐢 𝐝𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢'𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐧!
> 
> 𝐩.𝐩.𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐮!


	3. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐫

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Jedi continues tracking the Mandalorian, which proves to be useful when the Mandalorian finds himself in quite the sticky situation.

She'd been tracking him for a bit, it was easier now that she had a connection with Grogu. She couldn't sense anything resembling danger or fear from him, so she found herself making her own stops along the way to the youngling.

As a result of this laid-back tracking process, she had finally gotten her droid up and running, quickly creating a friendly bond with the charismatic tin can. It made navigating much easier, while she did think of herself as a 'damn good pilot' it did become tedious to do everything, especially after flying for this long.

Meanwhile the Mandalorian was busy trying to make a fraction of the number of credits that he would if he was still in the guild. As a result he had begrudgingly taken on a mission that put him far too close to an imperial starship for his liking.

Mayfeld was holding the child, joking, making light of a situation that much more tense than he understood. As he bounced the baby on his side the child let out some grumbly noises, almost sounding displeased in his arms.

She could sense it, she was meditating, relaxing in the cockpit when she felt it. his unrest, his slight distress was only the slightest disturbance she could sense but it was enough for her to begin searching for him, and the Mandalorian.

She was close enough to him as is, but she needed to find him, he didn't seem as distressed now but she closed her eyes as the droid beside her was frantically putting in coordinates she asked it to put in moments ago, and in a moment of clarity she reached out for the ships controls.

"I've got it from here MR-T3, can you start jamming our signal?" The statement was vague, and came off as more of a question, resulting in what she could only interpret as a sassy beep in response as she began navigating the ship.

They had been flying for what seemed like an eternity when the Mandalorian's ship came into view, and with it a new republic prison ship. She groaned loudly as she turned to her metal companion "please tell me we've jammed our signal?" with only a beep of assurance in return, thank the heavens.

She turned back to the razor crest moving parking her ship beside it as quickly as possible. "stay here, keep jamming the signal." she advised her droid as she exited her ship quickly jumping on top of the Mandalorian ship, opening the hatch on top and making her way inside as quickly as possible.

As she shut the hatch, she sensed another being in the ship other than the child, she neared the cockpit standing beneath the stairs listening quietly as the droid above frantically called out directions.

From what she could decipher the Mandalorian was no longer apart of the mission. She made note of it before swiftly turning averting her focus to the current task at hand. She opened the hatch of the small sleeping quarters to find Grogu, she smiled at him whispering softly for him to stay quiet and make no noise, she hid him behind a blanket and shut the door quickly. Making her way down from the Mandalorian's ship into the New Republic prison.

She quickly made her way through the prison, making her way to the control room. She sighed softly at the sight of the deceased man, stepping past him to find the coordinates most recently looked up, and just as quickly as she found the control room, she found him.

She took her saber out igniting it only for a moment to destroy the control bar, opening the door to the cell.

"I told you to keep the child safe and you brought him to a New Republic prison ship?" her tone sarcastic, as the Mandalorian took up her line of vision.

His beskar gleaming under the lights, he looked up at her in confusion, and with a baffled voice he said, "I-I needed the credits." He wanted to come off sterner, as if he wasn't just imprisoned by the people was helping, but he couldn't. He was too shocked.

She nodded and turned to leave, "Be careful of the companions you keep, not all of them are as kind as the child." She said as she began to leave turning back to him, her cloak just barely hiding a her face.

"Are you following me?"

"Yes. I was not keeping close, but I could sense that you two were in danger." She chimed as they both began walking down the republic corridors, both on high alert even in this moment of shock.

"I can take care of him." He said matter of factly, his voice moderated by his visor.

"I know, but a little help does not hurt." She said as she sent a smile over at him, "I assume your friends are going to try escape on your ship?" she inquired as she turned towards him, he nodded in response. They made their way back into the control room, him moving toward the control board to set off the comms and locking the ship down.

"You will need my help then." She felt awkward, it felt as if she was the only one to do the talking but to be fair, he did not seem like the talkative type anyways.

"I do not need your help." His voice harsh, even as it came out through his visor, modulated and robotic.

"I know, Mandalorian's are revered as the greatest fighters in the galaxy." She complimented, her face expressionless as she glanced at him for a moment, "but correct me if my math is wrong but two is better than one, right?" her voice almost hopeful.

He huffed loudly, nodding in response, the red light that enveloped them adding a certain gleam to his armour she couldn't explain.

"We should split up then, would you like to take down the red one together?" her question coming out almost giddy. She hadn't had a real fight in what felt like years, but she need not think of these interactions as enjoyable fights, but more so a means to an end.

"You should get into the vents, attack him from above, I will hide behind the control board." She instructed as she moved adjusting her hooded cloak, so it hid her face, her hand gripping the hilt of her saber as she kneeled down behind the command board.

Once the two were situated the Devaronian ran his way in as a hallway door shut behind him, looking around the room for Mando.

Once he was situated under the vent the Mandalorian shot out his grappling wire and attempted to pull him up into a hanging position, but as a result of this action the man yanked him down out of the vents causing Asora to flinch.

As they began wrestling with each other, the Mandalorian proceeded to get his helmet (and his head) bashed into the walls. Asora neared pushing the Devaronian back with the force, holding him there for a moment before she pushed him as hard as she could into the command board behind him.

This gave the Mandalorian enough time to ready himself for the man's next attack. But, as he neared the Devaronian threw him back into the control board again, walking over to him from where he threw him and picking him up by the neck.

"Let's see your face Mandalorian." He grumbled as he held him up by one arm, Asora moved forward and kicked him in the ribcage, raising her foot, channeling the force as she pushed him back again. She pulled him from the wall towards the door, the Mandalorian kicking him back and closing the first command room door.

The Devaronian proved to be stronger than anticipated because within moments of the door falling onto him, he picked it up, raising it on his shoulders. Almost in a smug manner, the Mandalorian pushed another button, closing the horizontal doors on him again.

"Well done." Asora complimented

"I can take it from here, you should focus on the others I will put him in his place." She commanded, she didn't want to come off demanding or better than him, but she couldn't help it. She was too used to calling the shots and doing things on her own or with her master.

He nodded, opening the doors again, stepping over the knocked out Devaronian as he headed off to find another one of his 'companions'.

She picked the Devaronian up over her shoulders, and quickly escorted him to a prison cell, laying his limp body down before exiting quietly.

While she knew the Mandalorian could handle himself she still wanted to help, in hopes of it possibly getting help on her 'help me find Han Solo' offer.

Just as she was about to set off to find another one of the scoundrels, she heard the child call out, he was scared. Not too scared but enough to alert her. She made her way towards the Mandalorian's ship, ignoring the current chaos taking place behind her as she began climbing up the ladder.

She entered the hull to find the droid holding a blaster at the child, stopping to turn to her as she entered.

She ignited her saber and quickly leaped towards it, pushing the vibrant green blade through its metal chest. Once it fell to the ground she quickly retracted her saber's blade, rushing to the child.

He stood brave on the bed in the ships sleeping nook where she left him, his tiny green hand up, ready to use the force and his big eyes looking at her in awe. She smiled softly at him, kneeling to look at him as she pushed her hood off of her head, "Hello again, little one." She greeted as she reached out her arms welcoming him into her embrace.

She turned, only to find the Mandalorian standing behind her, "Don't worry, he is safe." She said with a smile, looking down at him then glancing back towards the Mandalorian.

"Thank you." Is all he could muster up to say, what even was there to say?

"Of course." She nodded and went to hand him to her, but he held up a hand for a moment.

"I need to bring one of them up here, he was the mission." She nodded as he went back down, bringing a soft purple Twi'lek man back up with him.

As he came back, she handed him the child and smiled, sparing a short curt glance towards the Twi'lek man.

"Goodbye for now." She smiled, moving up to open the hatch above again and briskly jumping out, entering her own ship.

They didn't need to linger, or say more, once she entered her ship, once she started her ship up, instructing the droid to direct them to the nearest planet as she began to prepare a transmission.

"Mandalorian, I expect you know I will be tracking you; I may not stay close but do not hesitate to contact me if you are in need of help. Keep the child safe, and may the force be with you." She ended the transmission with a nod.

Once it ended, she turned to her droid and smiled "that wasn't too bad was it?" she asked, the droid beeping in response, its head shaking slightly. She smiled and patted its head lightly and sent the Mandalorian ship the transmission.

Now we wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝐚𝐡𝐡! 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫!
> 
> 𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥, 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐢 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐳𝐞!


	4. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫: 𝐋𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Jedi meets a few of the Mandalorian's companions on her way to aid him on his mission on Nevarro.

He didn't want to reach out to her again, as her message stated she'd be tracking them anyways. But it was better, definitely smarter to contact her. He knew he needed to go to Nevarro, but he couldn't help feeling uneasy about it. To bring the child back there, it felt like too much of a chance.

He didn't know who she was, or what she was, from what he could tell she was the same as the child, she did unexplainable things. In the command room he almost thought he imagined it, as if his mind was playing tricks on him.

How could she move him without touching him, how was the amount of power she had in her kick to him even human? She didn't wield weapons, at least not from what he could see, but yet she managed to best a brute of a Devaronian with little to no physical contact. While she bested the creature with every interaction, she made no deathly blow, he himself couldn't even tell if it was good fighting.

Not to mention that she was too cocky, at least for his taste and a little too commanding for someone who didn't fight well.

Her only redeemable quality about her was that the child liked her and that he couldn't explain, they barely exchanged words, or even spent time together but their connection was immediate. She was far too perplexing for him to even consider having a part of this mission, but if that was the truth why was he considering it?

Her words rang in the back of his mind, may the force be with you.

What did that even mean?

He came to the conclusion that even if he didn't like it, he would need her help.

He quickly sent off a response, telling her to meet him or Sorgan. Though his transmission brief and blunt he felt awkward, he wasn't particularly fond of asking for aid or help. Though he exceeds at teamwork, he didn't quite like the idea of her being on his team.

As he set his coordinates for Sorgan he thought nothing of her, focusing at the task at hand, focusing his mind to thoughts of Cara, the child and what was to come.

She on the other hand was ecstatic to receive his call, quickly getting MR-T3 to put in the coordinates to Sorgan, as they jumped to hyperspace she got up, grabbing her discarded armor, bringing it to her lap to clean. While she didn't get particularly dirty on the prison ship it still needed a shine, maybe even a new paint job soon.

Once she had tidied her armour and put it on, adjusting her dark grey robes, she had pondered for a moment, thinking maybe her light brown ones would be more suitable but settled on her grey robes.

She was hoping for an official introduction, possibly more time with the child, she hadn't had nearly enough time to meet him or even get to know his name.

She had met another like him, though he was much older, she hoped the child knew him as well but that seemed unlikely.

As the ship exited hyperspace and began entering the orbit of Sorgan she readied her ship for landing, making sure to double check the coordinates the Mandalorian gave her.

"Thank you, MR-T3" she said turning to the droid, receiving a welcome beep in response.

Once they had landed by the razor crest exiting hastily, "stay here MR-T3, I will return shortly." She instructed, giving a small wave to it as she left, walking towards the Mandalorian who was waiting for her.

"Hello, Mando." She greeted as she walked towards him, her cloak flowing behind her, he nodded in response and replied, "before we begin I have one question... who are you?" His voice blunt and monotonous.

"I am Asora Sett, a Jedi Knight." She responded coyly, she knew the Mandalorians and Jedi were not on good terms, she was hoping she wouldn't have to admit she was a Jedi as if he would just catch on to it.

"Jedi Knight?" he questioned, almost confused at her statement.

"Yes, I was trained by Master Windu to wield the force, to be a guardian of peace within the galaxy." Her tone came out calm, almost too calm to him.

"The force?" he asked, her eyebrows furrowed, did he not know?

"The force is an energy field all around us, it binds the galaxy together and it is within all of us. Some of us more than others." She explained, bending down, touching the forest floor and closing her eyes using the force to lift all of the small rocks around them and then looking back up at him with a smile.

"The force?" he almost sounded shocked, dumbfounded even. His head tilted back, and he just nodded, she smiled again settling the rocks all around her back onto the forest floor and standing up.

"Now, why are we on Sorgan?" she questioned he began to walk ahead, of her, leading her.

"I have a friend here; we are going to need her if we go to Nevarro."

The walk to the cantina was quiet, the child only cooing occasionally at the two of them as they walked. Once they arrived, they were met with a burly dark haired woman named Cara Dune, the Mandalorian greeting her with, "looking for some work?"

Her exhausted sighs were enough for them to understand she may take some convincing.

"It seems like a straightforward operation, they're providing the plan and firepower, I'm the snare." He explained to her, as the four of them sat around one of the worn-down wooden tables in the cantina. Asora looked over at him and back to Cara nodding in agreement with Mando.

"With the kid?" she questioned

"That's why I'm coming to you" he persisted, she seemed like a charismatic woman, and a good figther. While the two discussed the mission Asora began to wonder how long the two had been friends, they seemed close, at least to Asora anyways.

"I don't know, I've been advised to lay low. If anyone runs my chain code, I'll rot in a cell for the rest of my life." Cara said, looking off at the background of the cantina, she seemed quite content here.

"I thought you were a veteran?" the Mandalorian inquired.

"I've been a lot of things since, most of them carry a life sentence, if I so much as book passage registered to the new republic im- "

"-I have a ship. I can bring you there and back with a handsome reward. You can live free of worry." He leaned closer, nodding looking at her expectantly for a response.

His armor always gleamed beautifully, Asora wondered where he got the beskar, she hadn't seen anything like it, she knew Mandalorian donned the armor in the past. But the days of the Mandalorian seemed to be over.

"I'm already free of worry and I'm not in the mood to play soldier anymore especially fighting some local warlord." She fired back, almost gleaming as she held her cup in one hand. She seemed feisty, Asora was already beginning to like her.

"He's not a local warlord. He's imperial." Mando retorted back, leaning closer, even though he was convincing her it seemed to Asora that his voice never changed. If it did the modulator in his helmet did it no justice.

Cara nodded softly, her eyebrows raising at the new knowledge as she raised her glass,

"I'm in."

After she took a swig of her beverage she turned to Asora, ready to berate the girl with questions.

"Who are you?" she questioned as she placed her glass down, her gaze fixed on Asora.

"I'm Asora Sett." She smiled and reached her hand over the table, a polite greeting, possibly too polite.

As they shook hands Cara nodded, "what role do you play in this?"

"Whatever I can to help." Cara nodded at her response her eyes flickering to Mando for a second then back to her.

"You good with a blaster?" She asked

"Guns are uncivilized in my experience." She responded, pushing her cloak back lightly, it was a bit too warm in the cantina for her taste, she wondered how the Mandalorian wore his armor all the time, it must've been uncomfortable.

Cara laughed, "so what you fight with a stick?" she questioned, Asora shook her head no in response as she waited for Cara's rebuttal her eyes seemed to travel elsewhere.

"Wait, you have a lazer sword?" Cara questioned her eyes glued to Asora's hip.

"Yes." She nodded in response; she enjoyed the enthusiasm but did not need to have everyone around hear it though.

"How, only Jedi carry that kind of weapon?" she questioned, though to Cara the Jedi seemed like a myth.

"Perhaps I killed a Jedi and took it from him." Asora responded with a shrug, a smug smile playing on her lips.

The Mandalorian looked over at her, his gaze lingering for a moment before returning to Cara.

"Sure." Cara said, almost in disbelief, the little child cooing softly at her.

Their conversation wrapped up pretty quickly after, both returning to the Mandalorian's Razor Crest, all agreeing to go their separate ways but meet again on Nevarro shortly.

As Asora returned to her ship she was greeted with MR-T3's welcoming beeps, she greeted her back, and began instructing MR to set up the coordinates, readying the ship for deployment as quickly as possible.

She sighed softly, she had few run ins with imperials. She had noticed a weird interest in her from them as of late, but she tended to not think anything of it. Most people who have fought them once or twice have probably had the same lingering feeling with the Imperials.

As she drifted off into thought while they prepared for jumping into hyperdrive the Mandalorian and Cara were discussing her, not too far away.

"So, you don't know anything about her?" Cara inquired, looking at him almost dumbfounded, why involve someone you don't know?

"No. She got me out of a prison cell on the New Republic ship but that's about it. She cares for the kid, they have a... connection." Was all he could say, there wasn't much to say, he didn't want his thoughts to linger too much on her.

"Was she wearing clone armor?" Cara pried, there was something off, her robes, her armor, the way she carried herself.

"I don't know, I didn't notice." The Mandalorian denied, how could he notice, he didn't care.

"I swear its clone armor...do you think she wears it as some kind of imp trophy?" she questioned, Asora definitely intrigued Cara, Mando couldn't understand how or why, but she did.

"Maybe." He agreed, that could be plausible, but something about that just didn't fit her. She was cocky and spoke in a way sometimes he couldn't understand but maybe it was a Jedi thing. 

Whatever she was, her and the kid were the same. That's all that he needed to know to keep her close or at least within reach.

The conversation died down, changing to Greef Karga as the two got ready, him showing her his weaponry.

Just as their conversation was coming to an end the ship began shaking, causing the two to fall, leaning against the walls of the ship, a brief moment of shock shared within the two of them lead them to rush up to Grogu, where he was found gripping the control stick.

He flew off of the stick as he moved it too far to the side, the Mandalorian quickly picking him up, setting him down on his designated seat as he cooed happily to himself.

"We need someone to watch that thing." Cara exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Yeah." Mando agreed, his voice coming out as a soft sign, nodding.

"You got anyone you can trust?"

With that another detour took place, he alerted Asora that they may arrive later then agreed and quickly put in the coordinates for Kuill's hut.

Asora stayed on her ship, she thought it better to cruise than land on Nevarro earlier than planned.

As she waited, she took out her two lightsabers inspecting them quietly.

She wondered if it was best to only use hers, however on few occasions her master noted that it might serve her better to have two sabers opposed to one.

She smiled softly at the thought of her master, she wondered if his words were true, they would ever truly see each other again.

It was best not to linger on the past though, she had more important matters at hand.


	5. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐳𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mandalorian and his companions meet up with Greef Karga, on the way towards the deal the child displays particularly spectacular force abilities.

Once enough time had passed, she began to ready her ship for its route to Nevarro.

Soon after landing they had all met up once again and to her surprise she was greeted with a few new faces. As she walked out of her U-Wing her droid hastily followed her as they made their way towards the group. She called back to it "no MR please stay on the ship." She was far enough for them to not hear their interaction, she would have loved to bring her droid but she feared it may get damaged during whatever battle they were walking into. 

As she approached the Razor crest she was greeted with Cara, Mando, the child and an Ugnaught male she assumed was 'Kuiil' a friend they made their detour for.

The group exited the ship on blurrgs. She nodded at them; she must've looked unprepared not having her own.

She walked towards the group of men standing before them, listening to what he and the Mandalorian had to say to eachother. As the interaction continued, she assumed the dark-skinned bearded man who was doing all the talking was 'Greef Karga', his lackies still remaining nameless as the conversation dwindled. 

Once the formalities were done and over with, they began their journey to Nevarro. The lava fields emulating a wretched kind of heat, she was quite happy by the end of the night when they had all settled around a fire. The cold of the night erasing the heat of the day as the two suns began setting slowly.

She placed herself beside Kuiil, though they hadn't shared many words in their travels he seemed welcoming of her presence as he fed the little one.

"I guess the little bugger's a carnivore." Greek Karga chimed as he pointed at the cooing child, "never seen anything like it. They were ready to pay a king's ransom for that thing... must be for some kind of highfalutin menagerie." He joked as he chuckled, his eyes glued to the child.

"Let's go over the plan again." Mando responded sternly.

"We both enter the common house. We show the client the bait. We join him at the table, and you kill him." The plan already strung out, most in the circle already knowing it. Or knowing what we thought it was.

"Tell me about his reinforcements."

"They're all ex-Empire. As soon as they lose their paycheque poof they all scatter."

"And what if they don't?"

"They will." Greef's tone was too cocky, something was up, at least to Asora. Though tensions were quite high in the circle, even a blind and deaf man could tell there was something fishy going on.

"That's not good enough."

"If for arguments sake, a few of them don't realize that I'm their best path to alternative employment and they elect to react impulsively, then these three fine Guild Hunters along with that battle-hardened shock trooper will cut down anyone who bucks."

"How many where there be?" the Mandalorian inquired, even for Asora this conversation had gone on too long for her.

She was tired, and slightly uneasy within this company.

"No more than four. He travels with at most, a fire team... trust me, nothing can go wrong." As almost as if he planned it a Nevarro Reptavian flew down just metres above them, gashing Greef's arm with its claw.

Within milliseconds of the attack Asora stood up frantically taking her saber out and igniting it quickly, waiting for it to circle back. Blaster shots began to go off and Greek Karga's pained yelling blared in the back of her mind as she turned towards the animal. She bent her knees to jump up as it flew just feet above her and swinging her saber, cutting its tail off as she sprung into the air.

It let out a frantic scream in response, flying towards the blurrgs as an escape route. As the other Reptavian leaft others swoops down towards them. Asora leaped over towards the incoming Reptavian, swinging her saber across the area around her slicing its legas a result. The screeching from the animals and frantic screams of the scared travellers playing as background noise to her focus.

As the Reptavians continued to frantically fly around them Kuiil called out towards one of the Reptavian's "on no! let go stop it now!" her gaze flickered towards the blurrgs. Upon seeing the abduction of one of the blurgs she sprinted over as quickly as she could. Using all of the energy she could muster to jump up onto the back of the blurrg and with one quick swing she sliced through the reptavians legs, falling to the ground with the blurrg. As the two began to fall she jumped up propelling herself into the reptavian as she pushed her saber through its chest.

For a moment all she could see was green and red, then as she turned midair to situating herself as she began to fall, she channeled the force. In doing so her landing was much softer than normal, as if she wasn't meters in the sky but centimeter's off the ground.

For a moment the blaster shots stopped, an eerie silence filling the night.

It did not last long, within a second another reptavian flew out from behind the crowd of frantic hunters. It reached out again, grappling onto another blurrg, but as quickly as it grappled it was shot down. Asora looked back from the blurrg to Mando, and as she looked another Reptavian came from behind pushing him down to the ground.

Asora leaped towards the Mandalorian, rolling under the reptavian with him waving her saber forcefully as she slid, cutting its throat as she shimmied down. Flipping her saber and grasping it backhandedly to swipe it through the Reptavian's leg, with both strokes the Reptavian screeched from the pain of the attack, trying to lurch itself off to hastily flying off. Once the animal was off of her she retracted her blade, clipping her saber back onto her belt.

As she laid on the ground for a moment the Mandalorian pushed himself up, bolting towards the escaping animal. He ignited his flamethrower gauntlet, aiming the fire at the animals as they fled the scene. Scaring the remaining Raptavian's off and out of the premises.

She stayed on her back for a moment sighing as she propped her elbows up, readying herself to stand up. As she began to lift herself up she was met with the Mandalorians gloved hand.

Almost shocked her gaze met his, she smiled at the friendly gesture, taking it as she hoisted herself up. The two exchanged a momentary look, nothing important but she was surprised at his actions. She figured that he wasn't too fond of her but maybe that was changing.

Truth be told, he didn't even know why he gave her his hand, a quick gesture that only lasted milliseconds left him frustrated with himself.

He was thankful for her help, truly. But he could've handled himself.

The group stood with their backs facing each other as they glanced around the camp. Everyone frantically checking the area to ensure all reptavians had left.

After a few moments Greek Karga cried out from pain. The group turned to him, observing him as he was leaning back on his pack and his arm extended outward, sweaty and pained.

Asora and him approached quickly, the Mandalorian checking on Grogu before looking over with Kuiil as Cara and Asora moved to sit in front of Greef.

His gash was deep, not even the stim cannister could heal his poisonous wound. Greef Karga*s statements of him being fine now proving to be the understatement of the year. 

If he did not receive immediate medical attention now, he would be gone before the morning, the poison from the Navarro reptavians spreading faster than expected.

"How bad?" Mando questioned, his visor pointed down as he looked over to Greef.

"Bad. The poison's spreading fast." Cara explained as she was inspecting his wound, searching for something to wrap it with.

"So, this... is how it happens." Greef coughed out as he groaned in pain, Asora's heart fell at the words. His fear and pain emulating off of him through the force.

"Don't be so dramatic." Cara chimed as she began wrapping his wound tightly.

"I need another medpac! Got any other medpacs?"

Asora looked around, turning to the child as he began walking over, she guided him towards Greef. He reached out towards Greef with his hand extended out, leaning closer to touch his wound.

"Get this thing outta here." Cara cried out, her voice frustrated, clearly overwhelmed with the dilemma at hand.

"Wait." Asora said firmly, watching closely as the child touched his wound. Greef calling out "he's trying to eat me!" in response.

She watched the child intently, closing her eyes, focusing on him. What he was doing? Before she had another moment to question the child's actions he began to pull. Using his life force and the force all around him, wearing himself thin to try heal the damaged man.

She opened her eyes, gazing down at him perplexed. She'd always wondered if this were possible, but only whispers of this type of force power was prominent among the Sith. The child was still focusing on Greef when she made her way around him, situating herself behind his small trembling body, readying herself to grab him when he fell.

Once he sat back, his exhaustion was evident. She quickly picked him up, rocking him softly as she escorted him back to his crib whispering softly to him, "when you awake again young one, you must tell me how you know of that trick of yours." She chimed, brushing his tiny hairs on his wrinkly forehead as she leaned down to place him into his crib.

Once she placed him in his floating crib she returned back to the startled group. She too was surprised at his powers, but she made it a point not to make it evident. This was a discussion meant for her and the child to have later.

She shared a look with the Mandalorian, as his eyes flickered to her once she returned, she smiled softly and nodded at him, no words needed to be spoken between the two.

She made it a point once the dust had settled to situate herself as close to the child as possible. Finding her place around the fire beside a sleeping Mando, or at least she assumed he was. Who knew what was going on behind that helmet of his.

The child awoke just an hour before they were meant to leave, early in the morning, much too early for anyone else to be awake other than the two.

She made a connection, she knew he understood her when she spoke to him, but she would like a moment for the two to speak. They began their introductions, greetings, she learned of the child's past, how conflicted and caged emotionally he was until he had met the Mandalorian. 

A father figure to the child, or rather as she knows him; Grogu.

She asked the child of his knowledge of the force, of Yoda, what his training was, all of it leading her to a conclusion she could not bear to tell him.

Though she wanted to, she dearly wanted to. She could not train him, he was strong with the force, stronger than she expected. But this task, after the knowledge of her master's past with another conflicted Jedi, she couldn't lead him down that path.

Not until she knew of the final words, the final moments of Darth Vader, not without the guidance and help from another Jedi. She needed her master, he would know what to do.

Something about Grogu lingered in the back of her mind, what if he was what the Jedi needed? What if he could overcome his attachments? were they going to lead him to the dark side or could her overcome his conflictions? She had hope they would not, but she needed another, someone else to look too.

She had been trained to live by the Jedi code, a now as she understands it, an outdated code. But it was one she lived by, one she fought for, the one her master taught her.

She smiled at the child softly, the two of them still conversing, showing each other their feelings and lives through their force connection.

"You, are very gifted young one." She spoke aloud as she smiled at him, her smile holding only for a second as she looked off into the morning twilight. She had not known it but the Mandalorian had awoke only moments earlier, her words almost starling him.

He was suspicious of her being awake so early, he chose not to move, to not make her aware of his eavesdropping, to see what more she had to say to the child.

"Rest now. I fear today will bring only danger, we must be ready for what it brings." She nodded at the child, leaning towards the child over Mando, brushing the child's ear softly as it cooed in what she could only sense as agreement.

Her close proximity to him as he was trying to pretend to sleep felt painful, almost awkward. Once she returned back to her place beside him almost a foot away, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

He took a moment to examine her, her dark hair braided back from her face, the braids skewing off in different directions creating a complicated but cohesive style. Her cloak hiding the ends of her up-do. Her expression was peaceful as her face turned to look off at the landscape in front of her, her dark cloak hiding the sides of her dark grey robes. Her hands intertwined together, wrapped in the same dark fabric that covered the under-layer of her dark robes.

He would've thought she was beautiful, peaceful even. But he did not let his thoughts linger so far from him, he had a mission to focus on, a city to free.

As the others began to rise from their slumber her pushed his thoughts aside, readying himself for the trials to come, knowing not of what the day held but carrying himself as if he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨, 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐢 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐥
> 
> 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝!
> 
> 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠!


	6. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danger looms as the group approaches the city, but thats the least of their issues.

The seven of them slowly made their way across the lava lands towards Nevarro. There was no doubt that they were making good time but there was still a thick tension within the group as they made their way to their destination.

She spoke briefly with Kuiil as they walked together, him atop his Blurrg, "Thank you for what you did last night." He said, looking down at her from above as she nodded, "Of course."

They exchanged few words after, but there was a mutual liking towards each other from what she could read from him.

As the group came to a halt Greef Karga stopped in front of them, sighing as he looked ahead, "I guess this is it." The tone of the group changing quickly from somewhat casual to stiff and cautious.

Greef turned swiftly, pulling his two blasters out, shooting his two other affiliates, shocking Mando, Cara and Asora. He raised his blasters in defense as he came to the realization that Cara and the Mandalorian had their blasters aimed at him.

Asora lingered in the background her hand on her saber, her dark cloak moved back so it was visible but made no move towards them. She was more than sure they could handle the standoff if one was to occur.

"There's something you should know." Greef explained as he moved forward, his blasters still raised up to show he meant no harm and was surrendering.

He walked over to his deceased friend, kicking his body over and moving his gun out of his hand. Even though he had no chance of suddenly awaking and blasting them to bits, it was always smart to be cautious.

"The plan was to kill you and take the kid." He stated, looking over at the two solemnly.

"But after what happened last night, I couldn't go through with it."

It was almost as if when he spoke the truth the two wanted to gun him down more, as if that would fix the past. What has already been done is done.

"Go on. You can gun me down here and now and it wouldn't violate the Code... But if you do, this child will never be safe."

The Mandalorian glanced over at Grogu as Greef spoke. He knew it was true, but in this moment all he wanted to do was gun him down for even thinking he could kill him, and even worse take the kid from him.

"We'll take our chances." Cara chimed, a smirk rising onto her lips as she continued aiming her blaster at him.

Asora did not like that, if they understood it was in the best interest of the child not too why would they still fight? Would they not pick peace over chaos?

"The Imperial client is obsessed with obtaining this asset. You tried to run but where did it get you?" Greef argued, Asora nodded looking over to the Mandalorian, she knew he could feel her agreeing with Greef. While she wasn't particularly fond of him in this moment. She understood his change of heart, where he was coming from as someone forced to work for the Imperials.

"This is ridiculous." Cara huffed as she looked over to Mando, expecting him to make a move or at least do something to end this discussion.

"Perhaps you should let him speak." Kuiil spoke aloud as he pointed towards Greef in agreement.

"Listen, we both need the client to be eliminated. Let me take the child to him and then you two- "

"-No." The Mandalorian barked back as Asora stepped closer.

"Let's just kill him and get outta here." Cara huffed as she waved her blaster at him.

"He's right Mandalorian, where the child goes, they will follow. This is your best bet, our best bet for the child to be safe." Asora spoke, looking over to Grogu for a moment, while he wasn't their child, she still felt a connection to him.

The Mandalorian knew by now that she was only there for him. To protect him.

He looked over to her almost shocked at her words, she was right. Greef was right. This is what needed to be done to protect the kid.

He lowered his blaster from Greef, "He's right." He admitted through gritted teeth.

"What are you doing?" Cara asked, confused by his change of heart, looking over towards him for answers.

"As long as the imp lives, he'll send hunters after the child." The Mandalorian pointed out as he turned his head to look at Cara.

"It's a trap." She insisted.

"Bring me." He demanded as he turned back to Greef, "Bring you?" he chimed back in almost more of a confused tone than Cara.

"Tell him you captured me. Get me close to him and I'll kill him."

"That's a good idea. Give me your blaster." He agreed, extending his hand to the Mandalorian for the weapon.

"This is insane." Cara exclaimed, "It's the only way." The Mandalorian's response though it lacked enthusiasm rang truer than ever in this moment.

"Well, I'm coming with you." Cara chimed, Asora nodded in agreement.

"Me too." She piped up, it felt awkward. As if it wasn't her place to intervene but it was the only time she could.

They both nodded at her, they hadn't seen her fight outside of her interaction with the Reptavians but, from what they had seen from that interaction she was good enough.

"No, no, no. That would make them suspicious." Greef argued, four people to deliver one child did seem like overkill.

"I don't care. I'm coming." Asora peered over at Cara, Cara to Asora was valiant, a good friend and from what she had interpreted so far of her, she was an even better fighter.

"Tell them that her and Asora caught me." The Mandalorian insisted, giving a short glace to both her and Cara.

"Fine. Then they can bring the child."

"No. The kid goes back in the ship." The Mandalorian argued, He knew better than anyone to not let the child anywhere near the den of danger they were about to enter.

"But without the child, none of this works!" Greef exclaimed, he clearly couldn't understand a way to make this work in everyone's favor.

"I have a plan. Kuiil, ride back to the Razor Crest with the child and seal yourself in. When you're inside, engage ground security protocols. Nothing on this planet will breach those doors." He explained as he was gesturing towards the Ugnaught man, making eye contact with him as he explained. Kuill nodding understandingly in response.

"Heres a commlink." He nodded as he handed the man the device, Kuiil took it from the Mandalorian slowly, his face fixed into an unreadable expression. It didn't need not to be said how important this task was, it was clear Kuiil understood.

"I will keep the child safe. Don't forget to cover your stripes." He mentioned as he backed up, looking over to Cara, directing the last bit of his sentence towards her.

"Let's go." The Mandalorian insisted as he pulled out cuffs from the back of his belt, Greef moving towards him to assist the Mandalorian in the cuffing process. 

As Greef cuffed him Asora walked towards Kuiil, walking him back to his bluurg.

"If you need help, if you are ever in danger, call out to me and I will hear you. If you cannot ask the child too." She instructed as she looked down at him, both of their expressions hardened, this situation far too serious for any jokes.

"I will, thank you." He nodded, looking towards the child and then back to Asora. 

"you are two of the same." He mentioned, she eagerly nodded in response, "We are." She agreed her eyes drifting back to Grogu from him, "You are a good man." She said softly, almost to herself.

From what she had heard from him she knew that he had worked for the Galactic Empire until he could live in solitude. it was a passing conversation they had on their journey, but the fact that he had previously opened up to her had mad her happy.

He nodded, looking up at her sending her a soft smile, "And you are a good woman." 

He set off shortly after, picking up the child making his way to his blurrg as the other began getting ready.

Asora returned to the group and sighed softly at the sight of everyone readying, she leaned towards the Mandalorian as she spoke quietly.

"If I sense anything is wrong, with Kuiil or the child, I will tell you."

He nodded, stiff and awkward as he looked back down at his cuffs, completely checking out of her presence and their conversation.

She nodded to herself before she adjusted her robes, moving her cloak to cover her sabers that sandwiched her hips, she turned back to Cara who gave her a small smirk "Still think blasters are uncivilized?' she questioned as she held out one to her.

"Better you keep it. I can use one but, I think you would do the weapon more justice than I ever could." She chimed, sending her a small smile as she declined.

And then they set off, into the den of imps.

While the journey into the town was eerie, that was to be expected with the overwhelmingly imperial scenery. 

All interactions leading up to this have been tense, everyone ready to fight in any given moment, the Mandalorian being the only one who seemed calm.

The Imperial leader had a groveling tone about him, all of his words coming out menacingly nice. He got through the niceties within the interaction as quickly as to be expected, both Asora and Cara standing guard by the booth the Mandalorian, Greef and the imperial were currently sitting in.

However, just as the imperial was inquiring about the child, he stood to take a transmission, moving to the bar to discuss matters with another imperial.

However, just as he began talking shots began to fire through the cantina.

Asora ignited both sabers as quickly as possible, bringing them out, spinning them as quickly as possible, moving herself in front of Cara, Greef and the Mandalorian making it her priority to protect them, her sabers blocking all her key points, just as she was taught to, gliding it through the air as quickly as she could. Almost all shots that hit her saber being redirected back towards those who were shooting at them.

As the commotion ceased, she knelt down her sabers still ignited, held upward she turned her head behind her to the three.

The four moved quickly to the walls of the hut she stood again retracting her saber's blades and sighing loudly.

"Four Stormtroopers?" her remark echoing through the now shot up cantina.

The three looked shaken, she moved to the side near Cara as speeder came into view, unloading what she expected to be more storm troopers.

"This is bad." Cara sighed as she looked over her shoulder out at the quickly building command of troopers.

"You think?" Asora retorted as she sighed loudly, while this wasnt what she signed up for she didnt mind sticking it out, for the child.

The Mandalorian quickly pulled out his commlink, "Kuiil? Are you back to the ship yet?"

"Yes!" Kuiil called out into the comm, the sound of him riding, the shaking of the ground echoing in the background.

"Are you back to the ship yet?" the Mandalorian questioned, almost frantically.

"Not yet." Kuiil responded

"Get back to the ship and bail. Get the kid out of here. We're pinned down." Mando instructed, almost yelling. It didn't take a Jedi to sense the fear from him.

She looked over at him, her sabers still in hand, her eyes telling him everything he needed to know, and yet she opened her mouth to speak.

But as the words were about to leave her mouth a TIE fighter flew into their small line of vision out of the window.

She could sense the presence, a man she'd met once before. Her breath caught in her throat at the realization as her eyes widened. It was him.

She moved backwards, hiding behind the wall, closing her eyes, reaching out.

Focusing only on Grogu, she slid down to the ground, crossing her legs as she sat on the floor, her eyes closing and her complete focus being on him.

She reached out as much as she could, the world fading away, Moff Gideon's words only a background noise to her. As she began to rise a meter off of the ground, her peace, her light, the force being the only focus.

Grogu could sense the danger, almost as if he knew his fate in that moment. she could sense it, she sent him her hope, searching for him in the lava lands. She could only ask the force to guide him, to help him.

They were close to home; she could feel it. Salvation was only a hairs length away, she was trying to reach out, to push them, to make them faster but to she pushed to no avail.

She could feel it all as it happened, Kuiil being gunned down by the troopers. The death, the pain of Kuiil in his last moments and of his blurrg. She opened her eyes, drifting down, standing as gracefully as possible she looked over to the Mandalorian.

The pain, the grieving it was all over her face, he felt his heart drop, almost crushed by the fall.

"They're in danger." She whispered, her voice almost inaudible.


	7. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moff Gideon's attack on the group both physical and verbal leads to quite a few predicaments, some of them needing the aid of the force.

She did not want to say it aloud, but she knew Kuiil had passed. She also knew Grogu was safe or at the very least alive, for now. She nodded at the Mandalorian, she could feel his gaze lingering on her, almost yelling for more information over her previous statement. 

"Is there another way out?" Cara asked her gaze flickering from Moff to the two men.

"No that's it." Greef Karga confirmed, gesturing to the small army of storm troopers infront of them.

"What about the sewers?" the Mandalorian inquired.

"Sewers?"

"The Mandalorian's have a covert down in the sewers." He explained as he looked to Greef then back to her and Cara.

"If we can get down there, they can help us escape."

"Yeah, sewers are good." Cara agreed, as she adjusted the heavyweight blaster she was holding with both of her hands.

"Checking for access points." The Mandalorian thought aloud as he fiddled with his control pad gauntlet. The quiet trilling noise ringing through the cantina signalling to the group that he was scanning the room. 

"What the hell are they waiting for?" Cara questioned, her view reverting back to the stormtroopers, Asora knew but she didn't want to dampen the mood.

When trapped in a corner like this the Stormtroopers and their commander would often direct them to bring in heavy machinery, and that's exactly what they were doing.

"Hold up." Cara called out, as if anyone was moving.

She sighed loudly before looking at her and then back to the two men across from her, "they're setting up an E-Web." Asora let out a groan as Greef chimed in, "it's over."

Following Greef's statement the Mandalorian responded "I found a sewer vent." His helmet moving back and forth gesturing towards the vent.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Cara urged, the three of them racing towards the hidden vent.

As the Mandalorian began yanking off the seating placed in front of the vent Asora and Greef were not so quick to move, observing the stormtroopers as they began to progress with their attempt at assembling the E-Web.

"It's assembled! How long until that thing's cleared?" Greef asked, his gaze turning from the troopers to the two as they struggled to pull the welded-on grate off.

"Blow it." Cara insisted as the two looked down at the grate in frustration.

"I'm out of charges." The Mandalorian explained, looking down at his blaster in anger, his hand on his hip, thinking of a possible way to rip it off the wall.

"Get out of the way!" Cara yelled as she grabbed her large blaster, moving in front of it, her aim steady on the vent, though she fired at it mercilessly it did not budge. The shots ringing through the entire square, alerting the troops of their attempted escape.

"Your astute panic suggests that you understand our situation." Moff scoffed, she could hear the smirk on his face. Asora rolled her eyes at the sound.

"I would prefer to avoid any further violence and encourage a moment of consideration. Members of my escort have completed assembly of an E-Web heavy repeating blaster. If you are unfamiliar with this weapon, I am sure that Republican Shock Trooper Carasynthia Dune of Alderaan will advise you that she has witnessed many of her ranks vaporize mid-descent facing the predecessor of this model."

As Moff Gideon spoke Cara stepped forward, her face contorted in anger, her blaster close to her chest as the rest of the group spared gazes in her direction.

"Or perhaps the decommissioned Mandalorian hunter, Din Djarin, has heard the songs of the Siege of Mandalore, when gunships outfitted with similar ordnance laid waste to fields of Mandalorian recruits in The Night of a Thousand Tears."

The Mandalorian stepped forward, he too donning what they all could only assume was a similar expression to Cara had they been able to see under his helmet. Gideon's words striking hard to his history, exposing his name, his people.

"I advise disgraced Magistrate Greef Karga to search the wisdom of his years. I also call on Asora Sett, daughter of a disgraced Clone Trooper, kin to a Republic deserter, who in her years has witnessed the destruction of these weapons and their wielders on many occasions. Asora Sett of anyone here should be urging you to lay down your arms and come outside."

There was a moment of tenseness, Asora looked down at her armor and her robes, she dared not to look at anyone.

Though she was not ashamed of who her father was, what he used to be, she did not want to receive judgement from those she deemed herself moderately close with.

The Mandalorian's gaze flickered to her for a moment, so that's why she wears the armor. is all he could think, before anyone had another moment to process Moff Gideon spoke again.

"The structure you are trapped in will be razed in short order and your storied lives will come to an unceremonious end."

"What do you propose?" Greef yelled out at him, his expression was enough to tell anyone all he wanted to do was live. To escape this mess.

"Reasonable negotiation." Moff's reply was curt, almost annoyed.

Greef scoffed at him loudly, "what assurance do you offer?"

"If you're asking if you can trust me, you cannot. Just as you betrayed our business arrangement, I would gladly break any promise and watch you die at my hand." Gideon's voice was strong, assured as he continued on his tone only becoming more threatening.

"The assurance I give you is this: I will act in my own self-interest, which at this time involves your cooperation and benefit. I will give you until nightfall, and then I will have the E-Web cannon open fire." Moff turned as he finished his sentence, his ultimatum echoing throughout the valley, his black cloak fanning behind him as he left his troopers to watch them panic in the surrounded cantina.

Once he had begun to leave out of their line of vision Greef spoke up, "I say we hear him out."

"The minute we open that door we're dead." Cara argued as she began moving around the cantina looking for anything to help barricade the area.

"We're dead if we don't." Greef responded looking back at her, then back towards their opposers.

"At least out there, we've got a shot." He claimed, his eyes flickering between the two.

"That's easy for you to say, i'm a Rebel Shock Trooper. They'll upload me to a Mind Flayer." Cara responded as she began moving the bodies of the dead stormtroopers, looking for blasters, or anything that could aid them in some sort of way.

"Those aren't real. That was just wartime propaganda." Greef urged.

As the two began bickering Asora approached the Mandalorian, "I can use my lightsaber to cut the vent out." She stated, bringing him over to inspect it.

He nodded, looking over at her, his gaze lingering for a moment only to flicker back to the vent.

"I cannot leave with you though." She informed as she took her saber out, her head turning to him awaiting a response.

"Why?" he asked, his voice more monotonous than she expected.

"I can let you leave but I must fight. I will not let Gideon win again" It came out almost a mumble, she didn't want to linger on the fact that all around her knew her secrets, her family history. She looked up at the Mandalorian but as she looked up Cara and Greef pulled him into their dispute.

"I know who he is too." The Mandalorian confirmed turning from her gaze to theirs.

"Its Moff Gideon." The Mandalorian informed, his voice hard and strong, even when it was modulated.

"No. Moff Gideon was executed for war crimes." Cara's voice came out loud, her tone astounded.

"It's him. He knew my name." Mando's voice was a bit weaker than moments ago, it seemed he was still processing the information as well, having another bring up buried memories, especially an enemy to him seemed to have shaken him.

"So, what does that prove?" Greef inquired, still not getting the point of the Mandalorian's statement.

"I haven't heard that name spoken since I was a child."

"On Mandalore?" Greef was slowly catching on, nodding as the Mandalorian spoke.

"I was not born on Mandalore." The Mandalorian informed, almost as if it was opening old wounds.

"The Mandalorian isn't a race." Asora spoke up as she looked towards Greef.

"It's a Creed." The Mandalorian continued. Asora did not speak of it but she could feel it, the pain, the fear and the loss it was pouring from the Mandalorian beside her. The memories flowing back into him like a waterfall, the once concealed memories shrouding his mind again.

As quickly as they came they washed away, "I was a Foundling. They raised me in the Fighting Corps. I was treated as one of their own. When I came of age, I was sworn to the Creed. The only record of my family name was in the registers of Mandalore. Moff Gideon was an ISB Officer during the purge. That's how I know it's him." His voice rough, almost melting at the retelling of his youth and how he came to know the imperial man.

"That's how he knows who we all are." Cara agreed as she began to move towards the Cantina window.

"He only knew me when I was a Padawan." Asora spoke up as she looked around her, "I did not think anyone but my Master knew of my father, Gideon is the only imperial who knows of me, we met once when his troops were massacring a village of farmers." She informed looking over at the window then flickering her eyes back at the wall ahead of her.

"He is the only imperial I have ever spoken my name to. He could tell in an instant that my father was a clone, I don't know how." Asora admitted, the memories of their last interaction lingering in the back of her mind.

Cara nodded at her then Asora spoke again, "My father was brave, he did no harm to others and did not want too, he had no purpose fighting in a war he was only a pawn in. That is why he deserted." She turned away back towards the vent, igniting her saber as she leaned forward plunging it into the vent.

"He says he needs us, which means the child got away safely. I was worried when the Ugnaught didn't respond but if they'd captured the kid, we'd already be dead." The Mandalorian chimed, the change of topic refreshing for those who did not want to loom on the past.

"Hail them again." Cara demanded, rushing over to his side, Asora stopped turning to them as the Mandalorian began to activate his commlink calling out for Kuiil.

"He will not answer." Asora informed looking back at the two. "I felt it earlier, the child is safe but..." she trailed off as her gaze on the two of them saddened, they got the idea.

As they had a moment to process the comm beeped, the child's cooing transmitting through it.

A droid confirmed her statement, "Kuiil has been terminated."

"What did you do?" Mando questioned, his voice deep, and threatening she sighed softly.

"I am fulfilling my base function."

"which is?"

"To nurse and protect."

"It was not the droid." Asora's voice echoed, to the Mandalorian she seemed too sure of herself, clearly, she hadn't fought enough imperial droids to understand how deadly they actually were. 

She returned back to the vent igniting her saber again, impaling the grate, pulling it across the side then the bottom, finishing the job quickly then turning to the group to say something just as blaster shots began ring off in the distance.

The quiet humming of the speeder bike in the distance alerting the group. The four of them turned to look out of the window only to witness a speeder bike crashing into the troops ahead. 

She stood quickly, rushing towards the door, her sabers ignited by her side as she opened it,

"Cover us!" Din called out as he followed suit.

The doors opened the two rushing out, Asora flanking Mando, blocking a blaster shot form him aiming them back towards the troopers.

The two of them entered the battle fearlessly, the two's main objective being to protect the child at any cost.

As Cara and Greef followed them out into the battlefield Asora began duelling three troopers. Raising both her sabers inches from her face, the two lightsabers moving harmoniously around her body as she began blocking their shots. She redirected a shot back at a trooper, jumping forward knocking one in the head with the hilt of her saber and then pulling it forward as the other fell to cut the head off of the other.

She turned to Mando, he seemed to be struggling with the dark troopers.

Rushed over the two of them jumping over the trooper, twisting midair to strike the trooper who had him in a chokehold, as she landed the trooper fell to the found. As the trooper hit the dirt she turned to the Mandalorian who had begun to fight the other dark trooper.

The dark trooper embraced him quickly, blocking his shots as he grabbed him, pushing him down onto his back on the ground. Asora took this as an opportunity to strike. She came up behind the two, quickly pushing her purple blade into back of the trooper as he towered over the Mandalorian.

She pushed the falling trooper aside giving the Mandalorian a quick nod as she turned back to the other imperials. She continued redirecting their shots at them as she approached, taking three down as she got to the group.

Three to one. she bent her knees, pushing herself off of the ground behind the three, as one turned shooting her hastily, she used her left saber to block, her other to plunge into the trooper beside him. She redirected one of his shots at him then turned to the other, moving side to side as he began shooting her, she pushed herself into him, impaling his chest with her saber. She flicked her saber off quickly as she pushed the man to the ground and with the moment summersaulting herself away from the incoming shots round her.

The sound of blaster shots hitting metal caught her attention, she looked across the city square to the droid. Upon the realization that it was the droid that had the child she sprinted towards the two. Grogu tight to the droids chest as the troopers began to direct their fire on him again.

She reached the droid as the Mandalorian picked up the E-Web, directing shots towards the troopers surrounding the square, she looked off at him and the back towards the droid "Stay close to me, I can protect you from the blaster shots." She explained, igniting her saber as she stood in front of the two.

Just as the droid began to get up, readying himself to begin walking Moff Gideon reappeared, raising his blaster towards the Mandalorian shooting him in the head, his beskar absorbing the shot effortlessly.

The Mandalorian turned to him, aiming the E-Web at him but as he did so Gideon moved his aim towards the E-Web battery, shooting it.

As it blew up beside the Mandalorian it knocked him back, a hard hit to his entire body, presumably knocking him out.

The storm troopers in front of Asora and the droid began directing their firepower at them. Asora quickly ignited her other saber waving both of them around her quickly, protecting all of her key points, inching her saber out just a bit farther to her sides to further protect the droid and child.

As she blocked and redirected as many blaster shots as she could the droid began to shoot at them as they started moving forward, both blasters in the imperial droids' hands proving incredibly useful.

They quickly made their way into the hideout, Cara dragging the Mandalorian's body as Greef protected them, Asora and the droid following their lead after the three made their way inside.

As they all sat inside, Cara began to lean the Mandalorian up as Greef began moving things around the vent. To his surprise it was already cut out, just not taken off.

Greef glanced over towards Asora mumbling out a 'thank you' as he began instructing the droid to pull it off.

Asora rushed towards the Mandalorian as Cara was adjusting him, sitting him up as comfortably as she could. As Asora neared them she retracted both of her saber blades, connecting them both back onto her belt.

She made her way towards him, kneeling beside him, waiting for him to say something. The Mandalorians breathing was heavy, his voice weak as he spoke, "I'm not gonna make it. Go."

"Shut up. You just got your bell rung. You'll be fine." Cara insisted, her hands shaky and her voice not so sure of herself.

"Leave me." As the Mandalorian heaved out his words Cara pulled her arm from his shoulder, the hand drenched in his crimson blood.

Asora's eyes flickered from the hand back to his helmet as she spoke quickly, leaning forward with her hand reaching out.

"Mando, you need to take the helmet off." She insisted, if she could just touch his wound, she could heal him. Or at least she hoped she could heal him as Grogu did Greef.

He turned his head up to her, shaking it softly, his weakened voice arguing back "No. You leave me. You make sure the child is safe... Here."

He reached his hand up, pulling something from beneath his cloak, ripping it off to hand it to her.

"When you get to the Mandalorian covert, you show them that." He said as he handed it to her, her taking the bracelet into her hand, their fingers brushing slightly as she took it into her hand.

"You tell them it's from Din Djarin. You tell them the foundling was in my protection and they'll help you." He instructed, his voice weakening more and more with every word.

"If you take off your helmet, I can heal you, as the child did Greef. We can make it." Asora insisted reaching out softly to touch his helmet the necklace in her other hand.

"I'm not gonna make it and you know it." He argued, as a blast of fire pooled into the room. A storm trooper looming in the distance, nearing his way in.

"I am not letting the child lose another loved one, you are going to live." Asora demanded, moving closer with Cara to hide him from the blast.

Just as the trooper began walking towards them, the droid yanked the gate off, throwing it aside to the ground.

"You protect the child. I can hold them back long enough for you to escape. Let me have a warrior's death."

"We won't leave you." Cara insisted, Asora nodding with her, her eyes looking around the room for the child. She knew he was safe, she could feel it, but she needed to know he wasn't anywhere near the fire.

"This is the way."

As the Mandalorian spoke the trooper entered into the den of his firey destruction, everyone's heads in the room turning to him. Asora moved quickly to grab Grogu but as she began to reach out for him, he held his hands up.

He was using the force to stop the fire.

She watched in amazement, astounded for a moment before closing her eyes, focusing on him and using the force with him, aiding him so he did not exhaust himself too quickly.

As the two held their hands out, stopping the flames from coming any closer to the group, both of their bodies hot from the heat. Their minds focusing on protection, of their loved ones, their acquaintances, on peace.

Asora called on the force, focusing her mind on pushing the fire back, towards the exit, onto the storm trooper. The child using his force to create a wall, as he noticed her actions to push it back she joined him. Both of them almost in a complete meditative state. They both flicked it back, towards the exit in one swift movement, their actions and minds in sync.

As Asora opened her eyes, watching the flames leave the room she turned to Grogu, catching him as he fell in front of her.

She wasn't nearly as exhausted as Grogu, she had attributed that to her decades of training. He on the other hand had to hide his abilities, his endurance was not yet strong enough as he was still a youngling.

"Leave. Now!" Asora yelled out, handing the child to droid. It nodded in response, turning quickly as it began to move towards the exit.

"I will protect Mando, take him to safety." She nodded, both Greef and Cara towards the exit quickly.

"Promise me you'll bring him." Cara asked as she turned back from the exit, her voice strong.

"You have my word." Asora promised, nodding at her before looking back towards the Mandalorian as she left.

"I will close my eyes, I can cover them, but I need to heal you. He needs you." She stated, kneeling down to him as she began to pull at her robe, ripping a section of the sleeve off to put over her eyes.

"No. No." he insisted shaking his head, "Just go."

"You will not break your Creed this way." She insisted as he shook his head, the group exiting, the droid following as she gave them a nod.

"You all must leave for this. We will meet you there." She insisted as she looked back at the group, she brought the thick material of her robe to her head tying it over her eyes quickly.

She turned to where the Mandalorian was laying, darkness enveloping her vision.

"I cannot see. I promise. You can trust me Mando." She insisted as she reached her hand out, asking for complete trust.

The fire raging behind them, he felt conflicted, maybe she couldn't see but it still felt wrong.

"Just do it. Kill me instead, I'd rather you than some imp." He insisted, could he have her heal him, was it even right?

She shook her head, her eyes still covered in the fabric. There was some sort of desperation in her actions she reached again, feeling the warm beskar of his helmet.

"It is forbidden." He insisted, she could feel him pulling his blaster out, pointing it at her chest.

"No living thing has seen me without my helmet since I swore the Creed." He insisted.

"I cannot see." She reminded, her eyes closed under the fabric of her cloak, a small reassuring smile gracing her lips as her head was turned down to face him.

She could feel is unsure nod as he reached up, guiding her hand as he took his helmet off, a small hiss escaping it as it left his head.

She reached out her hands towards his wound. Her eyes closed, focusing her mind on him and the force, calling out for aid, for help. To heal him.

She poured her life force into him, focusing both her mind and body on this one action, as she focused harder, he began to heal slowly.

After a few moments the cuts on his face and his wound on his head slowly started disappearing.

His damp hair brushed against her fingers as she focused, he could feel her focus as his pain began to leave him, he could feel it working.

He looked up at her, his face scared and shocked. he hadn't seen a person with his eyes in years, he hadn't been this close to a woman, or felt their raw touch in so long.

For a moment he took in her profile. Her front braids were resting on her makeshift blindfold, he could see the impressions of her brows furrowed underneath in concentration. Her lips parted softly. As he took her whole face in for a moment, her tan skin dirty with blood and ash. He realized; she was beautiful.

Upon the realization his eyes darted away looking behind her, it felt wrong to look at her like this and to even think like this especially without his helmet on.

She let out a soft sigh, he knew she was done healing him completely, he opened his mouth speaking softly.

"Thank you." His voice soft, almost a mumble, his real voice penetrating her ears.

It was the last thing she heard before she collapsed.


	8. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friendly droids aren't the only ones who have to make some unfriendly choices as the Mandalorian and his group navigate their way through the sewers.

All she could see, or feel was darkness. she was enveloped by it, becoming it.

She tried running, but it never wavered, then she saw it. A small glimmer of red, she ran to it, calling out to it.

"Hello?" She called out, but nothing called back.

The closer she got the stronger she felt it. The negative emotions, attachments, hate, anger, fear and pain. It was all around her, pulling her towards the searing red light.

Once she reached the light she looked down at the wielder of it.

With a flash it faded and there he stood, dark robes, yellow eyes, the previously ignited red saber in hand.

"Grogu?" she asked, kneeling down to touch him, to hold him, to look in his hateful eyes.

It couldn't truly be him, could it?

"You did this." He growled

As their eyes connected, he plunged his red saber into her.

A loud gasp left her lips as she awoke.

She frantically looked around the room, her eyes adjusting to the dimly lit area quickly, "where am I?"

Cara came rushing out of the nearby room into the hallway, "Hey, hey it's ok, you're okay." Asora nodded frantically her gaze lingering on Cara a moment before looking around the hallway, "how long was I out?" she asked as she turned back to Cara.

"A half hour, surprised you woke up this quick to be honest." She smiled at her then gestured to scenery around them.

"We are in the tunnels, outside the Covert." Asora nodded at the information, her brain still processing everything that happened.

"How-how did I get here?" she asked softly.

Before Cara could answer the sound of incoming troopers rung throughout the tunnels.

Asora sighed, pulling her lightsaber out, not yet igniting it but readying herself to do so.

She followed the droid's lead as it left the room across from them. She walked with it, igniting her saber to block the shots directed at the robot as it gunned them down.

Once they disengaged she retracted her sabers blade and hooked it to her belt again, leaning against the wall nearest to them to take a moment to muster up some energy.

No wonder Grogu passed out when he healed Greef, it was exhausting to use the force in such a way. A form she would have to familiarize herself with later.

As she caught her breath the Mandalorian, Greef and Cara joined the droid ahead of her, the Mandalorian stopping for a moment.

He looked over to where she was previously laying then around him, searching for her until their eyes connected, he walked over quickly.

"You're awake." He said, his voice much more different than how she remembers last hearing it. His modulator making a difference she didn't expect to notice, she nodded softly before smiling.

"And you're alive." She pushed herself off of the wall and began walking with him, "Where are we going?' she asked, glancing over at him for a moment before returning her gaze back ahead of them.

"To the lava river." He informed glancing over at her nodding ahead.

The trip to the Lava river was uneventful, the group of them quiet, not quiet in an eerie way or a tense way, just quiet.

Once they were boarding the raft the IG unit joked, "watch your feet. Its molten lava." Asora chuckled softly as she got on, "you're not wrong."

The droid who was previously covered in hardened lava rocks chimed as it awoke, the crowd turning to it, their blasters raised.

"I don't suppose anybody here speaks droid." The Mandalorian inquired.

"I believe he is asking where we would like to go." The IG unit translated.

Asora turned to the droid and beeped at it, she had only spent a bit of time with her MR unit, but she knew how to beep 'hello' (lol prequel deleted scene).

This action caused the group to turn to her, clearly confused at her actions.

"The only being I live with is a droid." Asora defended as she shrugged, looking back towards the droid waiting for it to begin pushing the boat through the lava river.

After a moment Greef turned to the droid and asked it to take the group towards the lava flat. It was silent for a few moments, the only noise ringing through the tunnels were rhythmic droid chirping and the splashing of the lava as the droid pushed us down river.

"That's it! We're free!" Greef exclaimed as the pointed towards the opening in the distance.

"No. No, we're not." The Mandalorian clarified as he stared off at the exit.

"Stormtroopers. They're flanking the mouth of the tunnel. It looks like an entire platoon. They must know we're coming." Mando explained, Cara chiming in quickly after, "stop the boat."

"Hey, Droid, I said stop the boat." She yelled as she turned back to look at it, the droids rowing still continuous.

"Hey! I'm talking to you. I said stop!" she yelled as she neared the droid, raising her blaster to its head and blowing it off.

"We're still moving." Greef exclaimed as the group drifted down the river.

"Looks like we fight." Cara sighed as she looked over to Greef, "There are too many." The Mandalorian argued as he looked over to her.

"Then what do you suggest? 'cause I can't surrender." she asked, the situation far too tricky to work out in the amount of time given to them until they reached the opening.

"They will not be satisfied with anything less than the child. This is unacceptable. I will eliminate the enemy and you will escape." The droid intervened, Asora nodded in agreement with the droid, it wasn't a half bad plan.

"You don't have that kind of firepower, pal. You wouldn't even get to daylight." Mando argued as he looked over to the droid then back to the exit.

"That is not my objective." The droid chimed in response.

"We're getting close. Saddle up." Cara reminded, even if they were to fight Asora couldn't block the blaster shots from everyone. Maybe if she jumped over the platoon and attacked from behind but even then, she would've been outnumbered.

"I still have the security protocols from my manufacturer. If my designs are compromised, I must self-destruct."

"What are you talking about?" Mando's voice came out confused, he stepped closer towards the droid as if hearing him better would get the message across.

"I am not permitted to be captured. I must be destroyed." The droid informed.

"Are we gonna keep talking or are we gonna get out of here?" Greef yelled, clearly frustrated with the situation. They were moments away from imminent death with no plan.

"I can no longer carry this for you." The droid stated monotonously as it handed over a jetpack to the Mandalorian. "Nor can I watch over the child." he bluntly explained as he began handing the child over to the Mandalorian.

"Wait. You can't self-destruct. Your base command is to watch the child. That supersedes your manufacturers protocol, right?...right?"

"This is correct."

"Good. Now, grab a blaster and help us shoot our way out." The Mandalorian insisted as he turned away.

"Victory through combat is impossible. We will be captured. The child will be lost. Sadly, there is no scenario where the child is saved in which I survive." The droid was right, but no one wanted to say it, not out loud.

"We need you. Let's just come up with a-"

"-Please tell me the child will be safe in your care." The droid demanded

"If you do so, I can default to my secondary command."

"But you'll be destroyed." The Mandalorian's voice coming out sad, had he grown fond of droids now?

"And you will live, and I will have served my purpose."

"No. We need you." The Mandalorian insisted as he looked up at the reprogrammed droid.

"There is nothing to be sad about. I have never been alive." The droid explains as it looked down at Mando.

"I'm not sad." Mando defended, even if he did not want to admit it, he was, he had grown fond of the droid and to have it die so quickly. It was miserable.

"Yes, you are. I'm a nurse droid. I've analyzed your voice."

The child cooed beside him for a moment as he looked up at the droid, the droid extending its hand to pet the child's ear one last time. It began walking to the side of the boat, readying itself to get into the lava.

"IG? What're you doing?" Greef called out to it as it stepped into the river, the sizzle of the droid's legs almost deafening as it began walking in front of the boat towards the opening.

As it exited the opening, in the middle of the platoon of troopers. As the river finished destroying the last of its legs he stated "Manufacturers protocol dictates I cannot be captured." And moments after the explosive in his chest began beeping.

"I must be destroyed." He explained, and within the second of his last words he exploded, the whole platoon dying with him as a result.

As the boat glided past his destruction there was a certain somber feeling in the air, a feeling that only lasted a moment as the loud whirring of a TIE fighter approached. The ship manned by Moff Gideon.

"Moff Gideon!" Asora called out as she jumped from the boat onto land, running towards it, her prior exhaustion gone, the adrenaline of the moment kicking in.

The others in the boat rose their blasters at it, it was beyond them what she could do running at it. 

The TIE fighter came as close to them as it could manage, once it neared the group Moff Gideon began shooting at them and at her but, just as it neared her she used all the force she could muster and bent her knees and jumped. Her jump propelled herself in the air just above the ship. Grasping onto it as she began falling, riding with it as it flew off. 

The ship circling back to the group hastily.

With the wind pushing against her she adjusted her grip, her legs rising with the wind. Moff moved the ship side to side in an attempt to shake her off, though to his dismay it did not work. As they began rounding back to the group she let go of the ship, freeing her hand for a moment to grab her saber form her hip.

As she was grabbing her saber the Mandalorian flew above them, latching his grappling hook onto the middle of the ship, flying along with them. As he was trying to maneuver his way on top of the ship to shoot into the cockpit she focused on her grip.

The ship began twirling with the two of them piggybacking it, both of the people latched to it gripping onto it for dear life. As Mando tried to pull out his grenade she yelled out "Don't do that! Let me cut off the wing instead!"

She looked over at him, and he nodded waiting for her to make the move. 

She ignited the saber in her hand, swinging at the side of the wing she was holding quickly and as she let go of the ship, she dragged the saber through the cockpit, ensuring the destruction of both the ship and Gideon.

She fell off, the wing of the ship following her, she looked down at the ground reaching out to the force, trying to make her landing as swift as possible.

She hit the ground as she expected, as lightly as possible. She stood up from her crouching position, turning her saber off as she walked up to Greef and Cara, Mando landing beside her just seconds after.

"That was impressive, Mando, Asora. Very impressive." She let out a breathy laugh and nodded, "It looks like your Guild rates have just gone up." He stated as he looked over to Mando.

He turned to Asora and offered a friendly smile, "Asora, y'know the guild could use someone like you." She smiled nodding in agreement. 

"I think that would be too much competition for Mando." She joked as she looked over to him with a smile then back to Greef.

"Anymore storm troopers?" Mando huffed as he spared a glance over to Asora as he questioned the two of them.

"Looks like we cleaned up the town. I'm thinking of staying here just to be sure" Cara stated, as she pulled her lips into a happy smile.

"You're staying here?" the Mandalorian questioned

"Well why not? Nevarro is a very fine planet." Greef exclaimed as he gestured around him to the scenery.

"And now that the scum and villainy have been washed away, it's very respectable again." Greef defended, he wasn't wrong, Nevarro was quite beautiful, probably more so without all the imperials.

"As a bounty hunter hive?" the Mandalorian challenged, after he spoke Asora wondered if he ever saw the Brightside, he seemed incredibly pessimistic.

"Some of my favorite people are bounty hunters. And perhaps, this specimen of a soldier might consider joining our ranks." Greef complimented as he looked between the two of them, Cara smiling at his remark.

"Yeah. I've got some clerical concerns regarding my chain code." Cara chimed as she turned to Greef.

As their conversation continued the Mandalorian and Asora both turned to Grogu, who was standing on the ground at the man's legs.

She smiled down at him, kneeling down to speak with him as Mando and Greef began to converse.

"Hello young one." She greeted sweetly, reaching her hand out to pet his ear.

"Your little trick you taught me worked." She hummed as she looked from his ear to him, reaching out her arms to pick him up as he cooed happily in response.

"So, go off and enjoy yourself, and when you return you will have the pick of all quarries." Greef explained smiling at him, The Mandalorian turned to the Asora, looking down at Grogu.

"I'm afraid I have more pressing matters at hand."

Cara smiled nodding as she reached forward to Grogu to touch his ear, her eyes flickering to both Mando and Asora.

"Take care of this little one."

Greed nodding with her, reaching to touch his ear as well, his eyes trained on the child as he spoke, "Or maybe, it'll take care of you."

Asora looked over to the Mandalorian handing him the child as she did, "Before you leave could you wait for me at the ship, I have something to attend to here." She smiled, then turned towards both Greef and Cara.

The Mandalorian nodded as he turned, igniting his jetpack and blasting off, flying back to his home without another word.

Asora turned to Greef as they made their way back into the city, "You wouldn't happen to have any pucks for a smuggler by the name of 'Han Solo'" she inquired.

"Unfortunately, I do not. What do you want with a smuggler anyways? You don't seem like the type." He joked as he looked over at her Cara nodding in agreement.

"Trust me, it's not for smuggling. From what I've heard he's not that good at smuggling anyways. It's his friend I am searching for." She informed as she glanced over at the two.

"An old lover?" Cara joked as she looked over towards her.

"No. Attachments are forbidden in the Jedi Order, or what once was." She chimed back, a small smile on her lips as she informed the two. 

"like a creed?" Greef questioned.

This was all new to him, the Mandalorian way and the Jedi way, whatever Jedi's were.

"Yes. We are raised and trained to follow a code much like the Mandalorian's, though the two groups are often not fond of each other." She informed, her Master had told her the Mandalorians when she was a Padawan, often going into as much detail as he possibly could with the knowledge he knew of the people from his teachings.

But she did not think they were as extreme as Mando was with their way, however she did not mind it.

"Seems like two peas in a pod, the creed and the code." Cara chimed as she looked over to her, she didn't want to say it to make her uncomfortable but from what she had seen of the two they worked well. Two fearsome fighters ready to protect the child.

"You do the magic hand thing like the kid right?" Greef asked as he raised his hands up imitating the child's use of the force.

Asora laughed and nodded holding her hand out stopping a moment to pull Greef's blaster from his holster to her hand with the force to demonstrate.

"I do indeed." She confirmed as she tossed his blaster back at him softly, looking back towards the scenery in front of them.

Once they reached the city, they helped her find a speeder, at the edge of the town. The two smiling at her as they bid her goodbye.

"Let me know if you ever reconsider my offer about the guild." Greef insisted, almost too eager to have someone like her on the guild to help with quarries.

"I will. Until I see you again." She nodded at the two, adjusting her robes once she was situated on the speeder looking back with a smile, she said "May the force be with you." And left briskly, beginning her journey back home.

She arrived back at the ships shortly after, only to find that hers, to her dismay was ravaged by Jawas, stripped almost bare.

She sighed loudly as she got off of her speeder looking over to the Mandalorian who had just finished putting rocks on Kuill's grave. She walked over solemnly, kissing her fingers, placing the kiss on his hat sitting at the head of his grave.

She turned to the Mandalorian who was now standing beside her, "You're a Jedi right?" he asked, his visor pointing down to look at her, she nodded.

"Yes. Why?" she questioned, her gaze shifting from the grave to him.

"I have been Quested. The child is in my care and a foundling until its reunited with its own kind." She nodded at his statement sighing softly.

"I cannot train him." She said as she looked over to him, she knew that was not what he wanted to hear but she couldn't. He was sweet, but he was attached to him, he'd been through too much. There would be too much confliction in him.

"Why not?" he barked back, she was one of his own kind, there was no reason he could not.

"My master was struck down by a man who was conflicted, who held attachments. I cannot walk him down a path I cannot follow." She said back, looking over to the ship where she assumed he had left him.

"What do you mean? What path" he asked, his voice soft and confused.

She looked off into the distance at the sunset, her eyes lingering there for a moment before she turned to him to speak again.

"I was trained by a code, much like your creed. I don't know if I can train him properly, have him not go down the path of the dark side if he does not understand his attachments and his emotions." She explained.

"He is a child." He explained, how could he have to deal with this, at his age.

"He has been trained before, he lived through the fall of the order. Forced to hide his powers, to endure many years of pain and suffering. I do not know if I can train him knowing this." She responded, looking down at her hands. She wanted to train him, she did. She just didn't know how.

"How do you know all of this? Did your master tell you this?" The Mandalorian inquired.

"My master knew him but he did not know that he survived Order 66. Grogu is the one who told me." She explained, looking up at him, her eyes almost watery.

"Grogu?' he whispered, "Grogu?" he asked a second time, clearly confused.

"The child, his name is Grogu." She informed, smiling softly at him.

He nodded in amazement looking back at the ship for a moment.

"What are the rules of your code?" he asked, maybe there was a loophole, a way she could train him.

"There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no Ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the force. That is the code my master taught me to live by." She explained.

"I cannot train him until I find Luke Skywalker. I believe he knows something of Darth Vader that no one else does, only when I find him will I reconsider it." She stated, her voice firm.

He nodded in understanding, thankful that she would at least reconsider.

"Until then you should continue your search for another, I will try to reflect on my teachings. I can tell the child what I know, help him understand our way but I cannot teach him." She reached into her pocket, handing the necklace he gave her in the cantina back.

"This belongs with you." She insisted as she returned the necklace. His hand extended for it, he had forgotten about it in the moment, seeing it again was almost like déjà vu.

Their fingers brushed as she handed it off.

She walked towards her ship, him looking back at her.

He took in the exterior of the ship, it was stripped and completely barren. There was no way she was going to get anywhere with that hunk of junk.

As she entered the ship he followed shortly after, he leaned against the side of the ship as he looked around, spotting a dark little droid beeping happily at Asora.

He sighed loudly, averting her gaze as she turned to him, "I guess you need a ride then?" he asked, looking at her for a short moment.

She smiled brightly at him nodding as she took off her robe, her armour on full display.

"If that isn't too much of a bother." She asked, walking closer as she awaited his answer.

"If you're okay sleeping on the floor in the hull." He responded; it was awkward, almost painful. He hadn't felt like this since he was a foundling.

She nodded eagerly, pulling a large bag over her shoulder as she tucked her cloak into it.

"Only if MR can come along." She said pointing back to her droid.

He nodded, pushing himself off of the wall of her ship to leave.

This is going to be interesting.


	9. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mandalorian, Asora and Grogu attempt to bargain information out of Gor Koresh, however Gor Koresh seems to have other intentions in mind.

The three spent the night travelling across the galaxy together, Asora sleeping in the hull of the ship on the hard metal floor while the Mandalorian and the child slept comfortably in their small but comfortable bedroom.

While the Mandalorian tried to make her as comfortable as possible, offering her a small blanket that he could spare from his own bed he still felt bad. But then again, she did agree to sleep on the floor if she joined the two.

Asora on the other hand was perfectly pleased, she had slept in worst places before and the Razor Crest made her feel safe. Comfortable even.

The morning after the group left Nevarro Asora awoke to find the Mandalorian and the child sitting cozily in the cockpit. She didn't bother to check on him before directing her droid to begin some repairs on the hull of the ship, while the droid began fixing the imperfections around the Razor Crest she began to create a small nook for herself, folding her things neatly pushing them off into a corner as to not disturb any of the belongings the Mandalorian had hung around the area.

As Asora began organizing her belongings the Mandalorian stayed in the cockpit. He was trying his hardest to navigate their way to where he deemed was the best place to begin searching for more of his kind, and of the kids kind.

After Asora got her belongings organized and out of sight she decided now might be the best time for her to take a trip to the refresher, her clothes and body still dirty from the past week's journeys.

She made her way back up towards the cockpit, peering up to look over towards the child then to the back of the Mandalorian's helmet.

His beskar seemed especially shiny today, maybe he had cleaned it up the night before.

She walked closer petting the child's ear as she came behind the chair the Mandalorian was sitting in, her hand on the back of it as she turned to him.

"Would it be okay if I used the refresher?" she inquired, looking over to hm with hopeful eyes. Please say yes, please say yes.

The Mandalorian turned in his chair to her nodding stiffly,

"Uh, yes, do you- do you know where it is?" He asked his eyes averting her gaze, pointing towards the door as if that was any help in the direction department.

"Yes, thank you." She smiled turning back to the child, giving him a soft pat on the head before leaving, the child's giggling echoing through the room as she left the cockpit making her way down towards the refresher.

Before she got in she brought in her clean robes, they were much lighter than her usual robes. She was quite fond of them but not as much as her grey ones. However, she was sure she wouldn't be doing anything too dirty or strenuous so the light ones would be perfect for the day.

She took her braids out and readied herself for the shower she'd been waiting for.

Once she was done, she let out a sigh of relief, she missed feeling clean and fresh more than she thought she did. She put her dirty robes into her bag, her hands brushing over the Jedi texts her master gave her for a moment. Her eyes lingered on them momentarily before looking over towards her sabers.

She smiled down at them, her fingers drifting over the hilt of the two for a second before putting them down again. Today wasn't a day for reminiscing. She made her way back up to the cockpit shortly after, curious as to where the Mandalorian was taking them.

"Hey Mando, where are we going?" she asked softly as she entered, pushing her dark hair aside. She wasn't used to having to push it back, her hair almost always up into a somewhat complex hairstyle.

"Huh?" he called back as he swivelled his chair moving to look in the direction her voice came from.

For a moment when they made eye contact, he was stunned. Her long dark hair framing her face as if it were an embellished frame to a picture, her eyes bright, a small coy smile on her lips as they looked at each other.

"What's the next stop?" she inquired again, her hands moving up as she spoke to push her hair behind her ears moving closer to him to ensure he could hear her this time.

"Uh-Uhm the Outer Rim." He coughed out, averting his gaze from her quickly as he turned his head back towards the control panel. Why did this new change have him so flustered? he barely knew the girl, maker he didn't even know if he actually knew her at all. Why was he acting like a flustered teenage girl over this right now?

"Okay, I hope you don't mind but I got MR started on a few repairs in the hull." She responded softly, looking over her shoulder gesturing down below where her droid was currently diligently working o his ship.

He nodded, not bothering to look back at her.

"We'll be making a stop soon. There's someone who has information about another Mandalorian on a planet nearby." She nodded at his statement, "Would you like me to join you on your search?" she inquired, looking over his shoulder to the command board in an attempt to decipher where they were going.

He nodded, "You can ask about the man you've been searching for as well, if not then... I will help you find him when we reunite him with his kind." He said gesturing towards the child.

She nodded eagerly, "Okay." She agreed, before she was about to leave, he turned towards her again, looking up from his seat.

"You should bring your lazer swords." He nodded then returned back to navigating without a second glance. She laughed quietly to herself at the statement and nodded towards him agreement as she left, returning to the hull to equipped her 'lazer swords' and aid her droid in its current repair job.

They didn't land for another few hours, in that time Asora re-braided her hair, fixing it back into her previous style. The small braids curving around her up do, falling down to her shoulders in intricate braids once they were fastened high enough in her ponytail.

The braids weren't too thin, but big enough for them to not move too much. It certainly felt nice to have them clean again.

Once she finished tending to her hair the ship had landed, she readied herself for departure, she put on her cloak, pulling the hood up as she sat waiting for the child and the Mandalorian to come down.

Once the three had left the ship they did not exchange many words, both focused on their current goal, which the Mandalorian explained in as little words possible to Asora.

She wondered if they would ever become close, if possibly her presence would become normal to him. Maybe that was just wishful thinking.

In moments like this she had to reflect on why those emotions or actions would matter so dearly to her. She came to the conclusion that she wanted them to be fond of each other, not too fond but friends at most, that was all she wanted from him. Or she hoped that was all she wanted from him.

As they walked through the dark graffitied alleys of the eerie city, she looked down to the child offering him a reassuring smile, letting him know there was nothing to be afraid of. Especially with the two of them there.

The Mandalorian led the two towards a door, a purple Twi'lek man standing in front of the entryway, presumably guarding it.

"I'm here to see Gor Koresh" Mando propositioned as the four stood, waiting for a response.

the Twi'lek man spared a mean glance towards Asora and the child then moved to the side, waving his hand out as he gestured them in.

"Enjoy the fights." He spoke, giving the three one last stern look before returning his gaze back ahead of them.

They walked past him briskly, the sound of yelling spectators ringing through the stadium as they entered.

She looked over to the Mandalorian expectantly as they stopped for the moment, waiting for him to begin to lead them to their seats beside who she assumed was 'Gor Koresh'.

Once they seated themselves it didn't take long for an uncomfortable tension to arise between the Mandalorian and the Abyssian male, the fighting pit booming with chaos.

She looked down towards the child as it curiously looked towards the two fighters in the ring, she leaned over to him offering him another comforting smile.

"You know this is no place for a child, or a woman." Gor Koresh informed as he spared a glance over towards the three of them.

"Wherever I go, they go." He informed as his looked ahead, his voice coming through blunt and strong, even with the voice modulator.

"So, I've heard. The girl is new." He pointed out, leaning over to gesture to me.

The Mandalorian only nodded at his statement, his eyes trained ahead only turning his head to him to speak again, "I've been quested to bring him to his kind. If I can locate other Mandalorians they can help guide me. I'm told you know where to find them." The Mandalorian informed, Asora's eyes trained on the side of the beskar as they spoke.

It was so shiny she could almost see herself in it, it was very lovely. She had learned of the metal from her master but never imagined she would see it in person, let alone a Mandalorian clad in it. It truly fascinated her.

"It's uncouth to talk business immediately. Just enjoy the entertainment." With Gor Koresh's statement Asora moved her eyes from the Mandalorian to the fight, then down to Grogu as he began to coo at the fighters as their battle began to get a little too dangerous.

She leaned down whispering to the child softly, "There is no reason to feel fear child." Reaching over softly and petting his ear, he looked over to her offering her a small smile and a light giggle at her touch. She nodded over to them as if to tell him not to worry any longer.

The Mandalorian glanced over to her, observing her as she interacted with the child, he felt his heart warm at the interaction. Their connection made him happy, happy to know that he wasn't alone, that the child always had someone.

"Bah! My Gammorrean's not doing well. Kill him! Finish him!" Gor demanded as the two fighters began to engage in a more life or death situation in their fight.

"Do you gamble, Mando?" he asked, his eyes still trained on the dirty fight in front of them.

"Not when it can be avoided." Mando responded, turning his head from the fight to engage in their fruitless the conversation.

"Well, I'll bet you the information you seek that this Gammorrean's going to die within the next minute and a half. And all you have to put up in exchange is your shiny beskar armor."

The Mandalorian turned his head to him, staring him down through his visor as he spoke, "I'm prepared to pay you for the information. I'm not leaving my fate up to chance." He bartered with the Abyssian, clearly not on board with putting the one thing he's worked his hardest for up for the possibility of finding another Mandalorian.

"Nor am I." Gor agreed, quickly pulling his blaster out and shooting the fighter as he stood above the man he was betting on winning and shooting him in the chest.

Within seconds of the shot all of Gor's men were holding blasters to their heads, Asora turning her hand tucked under her cloak on her saber as she leaned over to watch the two men discuss the current situation at hand.

As the man cowered over the two the rest of the crowd exited the fighting pit quickly, their screams and yells in surprise following them as they left.

"Thank you for coming to me. Normally, I have to seek out remnants of you Mandalorian's in your hidden hives to harvest your precious shiny shells." Gor chuckled to himself as he looked over to the Mandalorian.

"Beskar's value continues to rise. I've grown quite fond of it. Give it to me now or I will peel it off of your corpse." He laughed, Gor's large glossy eye staring him down.

"Tell me where the Mandalorians are and we'll walk outta here without killing you."

"I thought you said you weren't a gambler..."

As Gor trailed off the Mandalorian activated his rocket gauntlet, the blue lights emitting out a signal to both Asora and Grogu that they were about to fight. Grogu hastily closed his crib, the metal readily protecting him from whatever danger ensued.

As Grogu hid Asora pulled out her saber igniting it as the Mandalorian uttered the last words in the interaction.

"I'm not." The Mandalorian spoke, and as quickly as he spoke Asora swung her saber, cutting the arm off of the man behind her, kicking him back with her foot forcefully as she turned to the other men beside the Mandalorian. The rocket the Mandalorian had released into the air plunging into his chest as she drove her saber through him with it.

She pulled it out turning to side to dodge the fighter who was approaching them, as he jumped over the fighting ring he missed both her and the Mandalorian, falling onto the bench as a result.

In the following moments the Mandalorian was grabbed behind by the Twi'lek man they had previously interacted with, another bulky human came towards them pulling his arm back to punch her, she moved to the side dodging it, and as he swung she angled her saber up into his torso. This unexpected action resulted in the man unknowingly impaling himself with the saber blade, she used her free hand to push him off then turned to the Mandalorian who was still struggling to free himself from the Twi'lek man.

The Mandalorian swung his head backwards stunning the man with the back of his helmet, turning to punch him in the chest, following the blow with another to the face, consequently knocking him out. As the fell Twi'lek man to the ground with the blow another ran up behind him hurriedly, punching the Mandalorian in the back as quickly as he could manage. The Mandalorian looked back to him for a second before cocking his arm and elbowing him in the face. Asora took this interaction as an opportunity, using it strike the man asshe jumped over the two twisting in the air to face the man as she drove he saber through his shoulder, being careful not to drive it into the Mandalorian in front of him.

Once she had pulled her saber from the man behind her she turned to chase Gor Koresh as he began to exit the arena, she sprinted towards him, following him out into the alley as the Mandalorian handled the last men that had come to fight them.

The sound of his beskar clinging and clanging against the punches and blaster bolts in the distance as she left the premises. She needed to get her hands on some of what he was wearing, it was far too durable for its own good.

Once she caught up to Gor Koresh she used her momentum to jump, flipping over him and landing in front in a kneeling stance with her saber flanked out beside her to further intimidate the small man.

She quickly stood, inching towards him as he began to stop, his eye flickering to the sabers in fear. She held him there for a moment to assure that the two did not move as the Mandalorian approached, using his grappling hook to latch onto his legs, pulling him back aggressively .

Once he had dragged the man close enough to him he tossed the other part of the wire into the air over street light above, pulling him into the air and tying the end of the rope onto the pole to keep him dangling as he interrogated him.

Asora turned her blades off and approached with the two as Gor Koresh began to yell.

"All right, stop, stop! I'll tell you where he is" he breathed out, clearly flustered by his current position in the air.

"But you must give me your word that you won't kill me." He bargained, as his hands dangled above him, his one eye hopeful.

"I promise you will not die by my hand. Now, where is the Mandalorian you know of?" Mando questioned his helmet turned down towards the Abyssian as he inquired.

"Tatooine." He groaned out.

"What?' Mando asked, that couldn't be true he hadn't seen one on Tatooine, he would have met them when he was there.

"The Mando I know of is on Tatooine." Gor confirmed his voice rough and scared, barely coming out with one breath.

"I've spent much time on Tatooine. I've never seen a Mandalorian there."

"My information is good I tell you. The city of Mos Pelgo. I swear it by the Gotra." He insisted, groaning as his body swung with his movements.

"Tatooine it is, then. Your turn" The Mandalorian agreed gesturing for Asora to talk to him as he began to walk away.

She moved closer to him looking down at him, she felt pity for him. Not too much, but enough.

"Do you know where I could find Han Solo?" she inquired, looking down at him, their eyes connecting as she spoke.

"The smuggler?" he asked, she nodded in return.

"I have only met him once on Tatooine, he travels with a Wookie. He-He was in the cantina in Mos Eisley last I saw of him." He informed, looking around, even he knew this wasn't enough information.

She nodded, turning to leave with the Mandalorian.

"Wait, you can't leave me like this. Cut me down." He begged as they began to leave.

"That wasn't part of the deal." The Mandalorian informed as he turned his blaster in hand, pointing it at the streetlight, shooting out the light swiftly as he turned again, beginning his journey back towards the ship.

"Wait, what are you doing? Mando! I can pay! Mando! Mando!" Gor called out as the three of them left. Asora felt bad, this wasn't right, not in her mind. Not to kill someone this way.

The faint sound of the beasts of the night drowned out his screams as they made their way back to the ship.

She sighed as they entered, unclipping her sabers and tossing them onto her bag in the corner.

"Was it right to kill him that way?" she asked, looking over to the Mandalorian as he entered into the hull of the ship after her.

He sighed loudly, turning to her as he began to speak.

"He hunted my people. I do not owe him anything." His voice came out harsh, biting back at her for even asking. She couldn't understand what it felt like.

She nodded in response, offering a small smile as a peace offering.

"You're right, I'm sorry Mando." She agreed, she did not like to watch people die, or hear it but, it did not matter now. There is no real death, only the force. She reminded herself as she sat down.

There was a long moment of silence, the two of them brewing on their thoughts.

As Mando closed the landing pad he thought to himself about the armorer, her words ringing in the back of his mind.

The songs of eons passed, Mandalore the great fighting Jedi. What did they do? why did they fight? How come Grogu was an exception to this inherent rule that the Jedi were bad?

He looked down at Grogu beside him then to her, opening his mouth to ask her about it.

"Do you know why the Mandalorians fought the Jedi?" he asked, nearing her, standing in front of her, gazing down at her as he waited for her answer.

She looked up at him and nodded, patting the spot beside her where she sat, a friendly gesture he hoped.

"Yes, my master told me the stories of it when I was young." She informed nodding, a small smile appearing on her lips as she mentioned her master, it quickly faded as she thought for a moment, thinking of the best way to explain it.

"Many years ago a large series of conflicts brought the two together, the Mandalorians and the Jedi order. The war was over the advancement of Mandalorian technology, your people did not understand the Jedi way, or our powers. In response to the Jedi's powers the Mandalorians began to wear armour much like the armour you wear today. they were designed to beat the Jedi, to best them in battle." She gestured to his armor, then continued on as his curious stare persisted.

"There were many crusades, battles, many of which the Mandalorians won. Mandalore the Great fought in some of these battles, as you may know." Mando nodded, trying to piece together her story, make sense of it somehow.

"But, the last great struggle between the two resulted in a large battle on Mandalore. This battle caused a cataclysm, scorching the planet into a desert of sorts. The Jedi won this battle, and the war." He nodded at her words, she looked down at her hands for a moment before looking back up to him.

"This destruction from the war is why, from my understandings I believe that the Mandalorian's are not too fond of the Jedi." She trailed off, she didn't want to say that he didn't like her but there were moments that it felt as if he didn't. She knew it was not because of this history, because he did not know it. But she did not want this to become a reason to dislike her, or her people.

He nodded opening his mouth to reassure her but no words came out, what was he meant to say? What could he say? He sighed looking around and tried his hardest at least thank her, for explaining this to him.

"Thank you, Asora." It came out soft, he knew she probably felt as if he didn't like her but what was he to do? He wasn't exactly a people person.

She nodded looking up at him, sending him a soft smile, one he tried his best to reciprocate. She couldn't see it but she could feel it, a moment of niceness between the two before they were interrupted by the child's soft giggles beside them.

She looked down and laughed with him, sparing a passing glance at Mando as she leaned down to pick the child up. She placed him in her lap as she looked back up to the Mandalorian offering him a sweet smile.

"To Tatooine then?" she asked her gaze breaking from his for a moment to look down at the child and pet his ear softly.

"Yeah." He nodded looking behind him at the ladder that led to the cockpit.

To Tatooine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐨! 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫! 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭, 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬, 𝐢 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭!
> 
> 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 ! 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 :)


	10. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mandalorian and Asora part ways in order to work towards completing their quests.

They landed on Tatooine shortly after they punched in the coordinates, once they landed, they were loudly welcomed by Peli Motto and her team of tiny droids.

Peli greeted them as they exited the ship, her frantic calls of dismissal directed towards the working droids causing more of a rowdy welcome then they expected.

"Hey, hey, hey. Sorry, gang. C'mon! you know he doesn't like droids." The three droids stopped, turning their gaze to her with their tools in hand.

As Asora and the Mandalorian exited the ship he called back to her, "May as well let them have at it. The Crest needs a good once-over." He looked back at the ship for a moment, his gaze flickering to Asora who stood behind her then back in front of him.

"Oh! So, he likes droids now. Well, you heard him. Give it a once-over." She demanded calling for the droids to return back to work.

As the three walked towards her she chuckled, the hot air of Tatooine humid, almost overbearing. Asora never quite understood the appeal of the planet, it was a glorified sandbox, but she decided against mentioning that to Peli Motto.

"I guess a lot has changed since you two were last in Mos-"her comment cut short as the Mandalorian pulled the bag from his side, the small green foundling comfortably pocking out of it looking over towards Peli.

"Oh! Thank the Force!" she exclaimed happily, her hands waving in the air as she leaned back in surprise, quickly leaning down to pick him up.

"This little thing has had me worried sick." She smiled, pulling him from the bag and into her arms as she began to lightly bounce him, taking in his green appearance to ensure he was all good. No scratches or blemishes, just pure childish perfection.

"Come here, you little womp rat." She cooed down towards the child, Grogu smiling happily in response as he made little joyful greeting noises as she greeted him.

"Looks like it remembers me. How much do you want for it? Just kidding. But not really." She joked, her gaze flickering between the foundling and Mandalorian quickly, Asora smiling at the jest.

"You know, if this thing ever divides or buds, I will gladly pay for the offspring." She informed, Asora chuckling to herself at the comment. Even if he were to 'divide or bud' it wouldn't be for a few more centuries, for now he was just a joyful youngling, enjoying the youth of his life.

Peli turned to yell over towards her droids as frantic hissing sounds echoed through the bay, "Oh jeez. Watch what you're doing up there. He barely trusts your kind. You want to give all droids a bad name?"

Asora's eyebrow quirked up, she looked over to the Mandalorian in curiosity but didn't ask. What was so bad about droids? She wondered, they're smart, useful, caring and incredibly good company. In her opinion, at least.

The Mandalorian looked over towards the frantic droids then back to Peli, "I'm here on business. I need your help." He explained, if anyone he knew could point him in the right direction to Mos Pelgo it'd be Peli Motto.

"Oh, then business, you shall have. Care for me to watch this wrinkled critter while you seek out adventure?"

"I've been quested to bring this one back to its kind." He informed as he shook his head in disagreement.

"Oh, wow. I can't help you there. I've never seen anything like it. And trust me, I've seen all shapes and sizes in this town." She joked. Peli wanted to help, she just didn't quite know how.

"A Mandalorian Armorer has set me on my path. If I can locate another of my kind, I can chart a path through the network of coverts." He spoke, his voice softer than usual, he had a friendly air about him while he interacted with Peli.

"You've been the only Mando here for years from what I can tell." Peli responded, her brows raised as she glanced up and down at her armor.

"Where is Mos Pelgo? I'm told there's one there." Mando informed, though he hadn't heard of Mos Pelgo before he was sure she would know of it.

"Oh. Boy, I haven't heard that name in a while." A soft exasperated sigh left her lips as she raised her hands up to her hip as she looked around the area then back to Mando.

"It's not on any of the maps." Mando inquired, hoping that Peli would have a pre-Empire map available, or a thorough set of directions.

"Because it was wiped out by bandits. Once the Empire fell, it was a free-for-all. I didn't dare leave the city walls. Still don't."

The Mandalorian nodded at her story, Asora leaning awkwardly off to the side, her mind wandered to what she was here to do. She was hoping that after the Mandalorian got his information from Peli about Mos Pelgo that she could try find any information from her about the smuggler and his Wookie companion.

"Can you tell me where it used to be?" Mando asked Peli, his gaze still trained on her as the two conversed, he felt bad for partially excluding Asora from the conversation, but they were here for business, not fun.

"Depends who's asking. You want to see it?" Peli asked, before turning over to the side to loudly call out for her droid.

"R-five! Bring the map of Tatooine."

The white and red droid beeped in response, slowly beginning to roll itself over to their location at the demand. Asora smiled as Peli began pestering it about its speed.

"No, take your time. Seriously. You just can't get good help anymore. I don't even know who to complain to." Peli huffed, the droid beeping softly as it neared.

Asora laughed softly as she shook her head, the droid seemed helpful enough to her, maybe Peli was just too fast paced.

"Let's go, lets go." She rushed the droid as it finally stopped beside them, the r-5 chirping in response.

Asora looked over to the Mandalorian for a moment, then to Grogu and Peli before fixing her eyes back on the little droid.

"This is a map of Tatoine before the war." Peli chimed as the yellow hologram map appeared before the four of them, pointing her hand at the map as it began to change.

"You got Mos Eisley, Mos Espa, and up around this region, Mos Pelgo." Though Peli was pointing at the map knowingly even though there wasn't anything to see on the map, it was barren of any indication of civilization.

"I don't see anything." Mando chimed as he leaned forward a little, his helmet peering down at the map a little closer to try see what he was missing , hoping it would suddenly stick out to him.

"Well, it's there. Or at least, it used to be. Not much to speak of. It's an old mining settlement. They're going to see that big hunk o' metal long before you land." Peli stated, referencing the Razor Crest with her last comment.

He turned his head to her from the hologram, "you still have that speeder bike?"

"Sure do. It's a little rusty, but I got it." She nodded looking over to him, gesturing for him to join her as she showed it to him.

He turned to Asora as they began walking to it.

"Do you want to come with us to Mos Pelgo?" he inquired, his helmet facing in front of them towards Peli as they followed her.

"I would love to but I have my own quest I must put my focus on." Asora informed, looking over to him for a moment as she thought. Maybe she could stay in Mos Eisley for the night then leave to go to Mos Pelgo the day after, after she had asked around about the smuggler.

"If I find out everything I need to know before you return, I can make my way out to Mos Pelgo to help you with the other Mandalorian if that's okay?" She questioned, her eyes still settled on his helmet, drifting a bit down towards his signet on his shoulder, that wasn't there before. It must have something to do with the quest his armorer gave him she thought to herself.

He looked over to her as he nodded, making eye contact for only a moment.

"We shouldn't be long, if you want to you can join us once you are done." His voice came out soft, almost friendly. She nodded at him as they moved towards the speeder Peli was going to be lending the Mandalorian.

As quickly as he was shown it, he was off to Mos Pelgo. He bid both Asora and Peli a short but friendly farewell before they headed off.

As Peli and Asora turned to walk back to the docking bay Asora began to inquire about the smuggler she was searching for.

"Peli, I was wondering if you had some information about a man I am looking for." Asora began, looking over to Peli with hopeful eyes as the two walked briskly together.

Peli nodded at her smiling back towards her, "Oh. Of course, what d'you wanna know?"

Asora sighed softly, where to begin...

"He's a smuggler who I've been told frequents the city, he travels with a Wookie. You wouldn't happen to know of him, would you?" she inquired, stopping for a moment at the doors of the docking bay so the two could engage in the conversation properly.

"Looking for your lover, are we?" she joked nudging her softly as the two stopped for the moment. Asora shook her head no at the comment.

"Well, I've only seen one Wookie travelling with a man. I don't know if they were smugglers though." She informed, looking back to her bay then to Asora, her hands raising to her hips for a moment as she thought.

"Would anyone else here know them?" Asora asked, if Peli didn't, someone on this hot rock would have to at least gotten more information than her.

"Wuher might!" Peli informed, pointing off towards the Mos Eisley Cantina, Asora nodded eagerly looking back for a moment then sending her a happy smile.

"That's good enough for me." Asora beamed, she would need to grab her sabers before she left, better safe than sorry.

"While I've got you here, I've gotta ask, what're you doing travelling with the Mandalorian?" Asora smiled at her question averting her gaze for a moment, what was she doing with the Mandalorian?

"I'm travelling with him for the child, I value his protection as much as he does, and I think the both of us realized it would be best for us to work together as opposed to apart when it comes to protecting him." Asora trailed off for a moment then let out a soft chuckle, "My ship also got stripped so I suppose he had no choice but to take me in."

Peli laughed and nodded, "those pesky Jawa's'll strIp anything." She shook her head at the thought of those tiny creatures.

Asora nodded, she turned to leave and say her goodbyes when Peli continued, "I like you two together, better two parents than one." Peli offered her a kind smile before she turned to leave as well.

Asora smiled at the statement, "I agree. Thank you, Peli."

The two quickly parted ways shortly after, Asora on her way to the Cantina and Peli back towards the docking bays.

Once Asora arrived at the Cantina she walked up to the bar ordering herself some Spotchka.

The brown-haired human bartender nodded, taking the bottle out and pouring her one, she soon found the courage to begin talking to him. He looked quite a bit older than her, an almost stone face with a burly way about him

"Wuher, I'm told you know of the smuggler Han Solo, is this true?" she asked, leaning over the bar just slightly with her glass of Spotchka in hand as she inquired.

"Depends on who's asking." He replied as he began wiping down the bar, tending to the other guests' messes, she looked around her then back to him offering him a friendly smile she knew would get her nowhere.

"I'm Asora Sett, Jedi Knight. I've been quested to find him." She informed quietly, the music playing in the background just loud enough for only him to hear what she had to say.

He nodded at her statement turning from her as he mixed other guests drink.

"He hasn't been here since he killed that bounty hunter Greedo, if he's been here I haven't seen him." He informed, leaning over towards another customer across the bar to hand them their drink.

She sighed and nodded looking down at her drink for a moment before finishing it off.

As she was about to leave the Cantina empty handed with information before a Trandoshan man called out to her from across the bar.

"So, you're looking for Solo huh?" he yelled, her head turning quickly towards him nodding at his statement.

She walked over to his booth casually, so as to not make it seem like she was teeming with excitement. She had to keep her cool if she were to get any information out of this reptilian man, or so she assumed.

Once she was at the end of their booth standing in front of him, she spoke, "Yes, do you know of him?"

The question was dumb, of course he knew of him, but it was better to come off dumb than arrogantly stupid. At least in this situation anyways.

The man nodded at her and gestured for Asora to take a seat across for him, "I'll tell you what you wanna know, on one condition." She looked up to him nodding as she took the seat across from him, his face contorting into a sickening smirk as she did so.

"And what could that be?"

"You go drink for drink with me, if you're still standing by the end of the night my information is yours."

Asora thought for a moment, before she waved her hand under then table, hopefully this Trandosha was more weak minded than he looked.

"That will not be necessary." She stated as she wove her hand, using the force to hopefully trick him, however her trick fell short when the reptilian man began to laugh in her face.

"It will if you want the information I have." He informed, taking a large swig of his drink as he looked over to her expectantly.

She nodded, letting out a loud sigh as she propped her elbows on the table resting her head in the palms of her hands.

It was gonna be a long night.

Far off on what seemed like the other side of Tatooine the Mandalorian was readying himself for bed, in a camp shared by Tusken raiders.

It wasn't home but it was as comfortable as he could wish for it to be, especially in the desert.

As he laid the kid down for the night beside him his mind wandered to the girl, he didn't want to admit it, but he almost missed her.

It was nice to have another to keep Grogu company, to just be in the presence with no matter how awkward or comfortable.

As he laid down to sleep in his makeshift bed he wondered if she felt the same, if she missed the two of them too. If she would be meeting them in Mos Pelgo. He tried not to let his mind wander too much to her, after all he had barely known her.

He couldn't fight the feeling though; it was always pleasant to have her nearby. Even if the two didn't exchange words. The extra comfort, the extra layer of protection for the child, it made him feel safe.

The more he thought the more his mind wandered, he didn't know if she heard his thank you back on Nevarro but he hoped she did. She seemed too right to him, she always knew the right thing, the just thing to do. A strict moral code of what was right and wrong, what she was allowed to do and what she wasn't.

He wondered if all Jedi were this strict, this well-kept about their emotions. Could they really not harbor any connection with another? was it really that bad? While he had his own code to live by it wasn't nearly as extreme, he could still hold connections and attachments with others while his helmet was on.

He eagerly fought these thoughts away as he drifted to sleep, this was none of his concern. He had more pressing matters than a Jedi's way of life.

Even so, the lingering thought of what she was doing now, and if she was safe still hid in the shadows of his mind. But he could do nothing about either, he had a Mandalorian to find.

As the Mandalorian drifted to sleep Asora began her 3rd drink, the Trandoshan male in front of her looking weary as she began sipping it.

She was not feeling all that well herself, but she need not show that to her competitors, especially with important information at stake.

"You are beginning to look worried, are you afraid of something?" she chimed over to the man in front of her shaking her cup to gesture to the drink.

His red eyes glossed over as he looked over to her, he shook his head hastily taking another hefty swig of his spotchka.

She wasn't a fool, she knew he had men on her as soon as she sat down with him. She didn't know what his game was or what he was thinking to get out of the interaction, but she surely wasn't going to let her play him for a fool.

"No, nothing." He shot her a nasty smirk as he began to raise the cup to his mouth, she smiled at him nicely before reaching her hand down below to her saber.

She unclipped it from her belt aiming it below to her opponent.

"While I must say I am enjoying this competition it has gone on for far too long." She informed, igniting the saber below the table, pointing it towards him.

He looked down, his eyes widening in shock before nodding with her.

"Fine! Fine! I'll tell you what you want!.. just don't kill me!" he cried, his eyes glancing down to the table before he began to speak.

"He runs with the New Republic now, he's got a kid. His-his wife is Leia Organa, she's a general." She nodded at the statement, disengaging her lightsaber and clipping it back to her belt. She leaned back over only to ask one more question,

"How can I find him? He must have a new place to frequent if not here."

He nodded, looking down towards the table again then back to her, "Takodana Castle... but you didn't hear it from me." She nodded at the statement, looking around the room for a moment before sparing him a passing glance as she stood up to exit the booth.

Moving her cloak back to expose both of her sabers as she left, giving a clear signal to anyone who did try to follow her that a fight with her may not be the best option.

She returned to the Razor Crest after she left the cantina, rushing up to the cockpit to send a message to Greef Karga on Nevarro.

"Hello Greef, Its Asora. I hope you and Cara are well. I have found a lead on my quest and require a ship. If it is not too much trouble for me to ask, could you do me the favor of fixing the U-wing I left on Nevarro? I fear I will not be able to go on my mission with the child and Mando, as they have their own matters to attend to. I do not know when we will be back to Nevarro but when we return, I will need a ship. I can pay well, whatever credits you ask. I look forward to seeing the two of you again. Thank you. For everything."

Asora feared it was too big a favor to ask but what else was she to do, she couldn't ask the Mandalorian to go out of his way for her, not for this. Especially when he had his own quest to attend to, one that held more importance to him.

She sighed to herself as she left the cockpit, maybe he wouldn't mind but she wouldn't do that to him. He needed to find his people; she wasn't going to get in the way of that.

As she readied herself for bed her thoughts wandered to him and the child, how were they, were they safe? She missed the two, Grogu's giggles and coo's, the Mandalorian's short remarks. They were almost friendly, but she didn't think he saw her like that. As a friend.

She sighed softly, she couldn't quite understand why it bothered her so, but it did. She wondered if the Mandalorian thought this way too, if maybe he wanted to be close as well. But it was foolish to think like that.

She should not get attached, to care too much for his feelings for her, his thoughts of her. That was not her place, it was not her way.

As she drifted to sleep her thoughts lingered, why couldn't it be her place? Why shouldn't she care?


	11. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧'𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐧

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mandalorian and Asora meet up in Mos Pelgo, where slaying the krayt dragon seems to be more of an issue for the two of them than expected

The next morning Asora woke up particularly early, giving her time to meditate long before the two suns rose.

She calmed her thoughts as she meditated, reminding herself to keep her emotions at bay, to not let them run amuck as she did the night before.

It would not be good for her to get attached, or to love right now, she had so much to do and to learn. She would not let this moment of confusion or wishful thinking distract her from her mind, her duties and her code.

Following the end of her meditation Peli arrived at the bays, prompting Asora to get her armor and cloak on, ready her day bag for the journey to Mos Pelgo and ask the woman for a speeder bike.

She paid Peli off handsomely for the speeder bike, while she knew not to spend too much on these tiny things she would come to need in the future and now it felt good to give Peli more than her asking price, especially since Peli had been kind enough to help her in the past and lend her information.

Once she was on her way she didn't stop until it was deep into the night, the two suns setting long before she began to set up her camp. By the time she made camp she assumed that she would make it Mos Pelgo the next morning within only a few hours, the dark and eerie desert surrounding her as she leaned her backpack up behind her head, the pack leaning against the speeder for support.

She looked up at the stars as she laid there quietly, listening to the wind flow past her, the universe carrying on without her.

She wondered if he was looking up at the sky too, if he had found who he was searching for. Excitement to see the two was brewing as her thoughts drifted to them.

At the same time, on another part of the desert he was doing the same. He was up much later than normal, having had a long day with the Marshal and Tusken Raiders, he thought he would've fallen asleep by the time he had gotten ready for bed but apparently not.

He looked up to the stars, his helmet outlining each one, almost ready to identify them on his command. As the wind blew past him briskly, he wondered to himself, was she looking at them too? He tried pushing the thoughts away quickly, of course she wasn't. She had other problems to attend to, more to do than just look at the stars. But what if?

She barely slept that night, the desert though warm during the day proved itself to be quite cold at night and she was not prepared for it. By the time the two suns rose again she was already back on her way towards Mos Pelgo again, hoping that by the time she met the two there Mando was beginning to get ready to leave.

It was almost noon by the time she had arrived at Mos Pelgo, at her arrival she took notice to the large group of villagers begin walking towards what she assumed was a town meeting,

She looked around, trying to spot the man in the shiny beskar, which luckily, she did within moments, she briskly made her way toward him, surveying the area for the little green youngling.

"Hey Mando!" she chimed, reaching up to tap on his shoulder. The man tensed up for a moment before turning to her, "you came?" he questioned as he moved to face her, looking down at her for a moment.

She nodded eagerly her eyes moving from his to the child's "hello little one, how are you." She cooed towards him, bending her knees to kneel in front of him so the two could look each other face to face.

He giggled back and reached out towards her, she happily picked him up and brought him back up to converse with his father.

"Did you find the Mandalorian?" she inquired as she surveyed the area, "not quite... Can you join us in the Cantina, after we talk to the towns people I'll explain?" He gestured towards the door, she nodded eagerly, following mando into the cantina and opting to take a place off to the side with the child.

She paid no mind to the confused looks or curious gazes as she focused on Grogu, bouncing him up and down in her lap as the two discussed the past events of the day and the 'sand dragon' as the final people in the village filled the room. 

Once it had gotten quiet, she finally looked up from her trance, Grogu tight in her arms as her gaze fell on the two mean in front of her as they leaned against the bar behind them.

The man beside Mando was clad in Mandalorian armor. The painted armor worn from its many years of use, the red and green paints prominent, but just barely. Though the man was clad in the traditional Mandalorian armor his helmet was nowhere to be found, his face on complete display.

Her mouth fell open for a moment, her face displaying her clear shock. Did not all Mandalorian's wear their helmets? She looked the man up and down surveying his outfit, while she much preferred Mando's armor to his she liked it, it had a certain antiquity about it. As she finished gawking at his outfit the two made eye contact, his grey hair adding to the man's seemingly rugged aura.

She smiled at him sweetly as the two made eye contact, the man took this minor opportunity to examine the newcomer, her figure small but seemingly confident and strong. Her robes paired with her painted clone armor offered a certain interesting aspect about her, her hair up in intricate braids. they swung behind her from her ponytail, her dark hair complimenting her complexion nicely.

He sent a smug smirk, one that he had discovered to be his tried-and-true smoulder. It was just casual enough for him to seem cool and just enough of a smile to make him seem sweet. Not that he wasn't, he knew he was a kind man, he just had a bit of a cocky air to him. Especially after becoming Marshal of Mos Pelgo. Although he loved protecting people with his whole heart, he also loved how good he looked in the Mandalorian armor while he was doing it.

As he sent her a smirk, she gleamed back, offering a small wave his way that received a little nod her way from him. She liked the fondness of the man, it was nice to have a somewhat welcome greeting, even if it was wordless.

Mando on the other hand couldn't have been more shocked, as the two exchanged their seemingly flirty glances he felt his stomach drop. His once calm and relaxed emotions suddenly becoming confused, and maybe even a little jealous.

He wouldn't say it was jealousy though, he was just merely confused. Or at least to him he was, it's not like he liked her like that anyways. Just looking out for a friend, a friend whose way of life goes against attachments.

He tried to brush it off quickly, the moment he had hoped was nothing. She smiles like that at everyone, even waves at people like that too. But she didn't wave to him, she waved to Cobb Vanth. 

He sighed quietly to himself, it was so quiet it was almost inaudible. She could do what she wants, it's not like it should matter to him, plus he's got villagers to convince right now. Why waste time brewing on this?

After a few moments of waiting for the villagers to settle down he and Cobb Vanth began their pitch for getting the villagers of Mos Pelgo to join them with the Tusken Raiders to kill the Krayt dragon.

"This here is a Mandalorian. You know what that means?" Cobb began, this might take a bit of convincing. He thought as he looked around the room at the towns people.

"Oh, we've heard the stories." One of them chimed back

"Then you know how good they are at killing. Now, this one's got a problem." Cobb continued, pointing over to Mando casually as he continued.

"I got a suit o' salvaged armor and the Mandalorian creed says it's his to take."

Asora's eyebrows raised in surprise at the statement, looking over to Mando for a moment. She felt bad for him, he came all this way and he's just going to be leaving with the armor of his people, instead of an actual person. 

After they made eye contact for a moment, he nodded turning back to look at the crowd. Asora's eyes moved from his helmet to his armor, taking in his attire momentarily before looking over to the grey-haired man beside him.

"But I've got a problem, too. A krayt dragon has been peeling off our pack animals, and sometimes taking our mining haul with it. It's just a matter of time before it grows tired of banthas and goes after a couple of you townsfolk, or even, so help us, the school."

As Cobb stopped for a moment the cantina filled with momentary chatter, he did have a very good point, but what could the Mandalorian do about it?

"As much as I've grown fond of the armor, I'm even more fond of this town. The Mandalorian is willing to help us slay the leviathan in exchanged for returning the armor to its ancestral owners." Cobb explained, turning back slightly to look over at the Mandalorian, eyeing Asora as his gaze moved back to the townsfolk.

"Well, that settles it." A townsperson spoke up as he leaned forward over a table his gaze fixed on the two at the front.

"There's more. We can't take on the krayt alone... and the Sand People are willing to help."

Soon after Cobb's statement the room began bolstering with disagreement, the towns people clearly uncomfortable with the purposed deal.

"They raid our mines!" one man called out as he slammed his hand on the table his group was sitting at, looking over to the two angrily.

"They're monsters!" another called out in front of him.

The Mandalorian stepped forward at the statement, his leaning comfortable figure switching to a broad strong one as he moved.

"I've seen the size of that thing; it will swallow your entire town when the fancy hits it. You're lucky Mos Pelgo isn't a sand field already. I know these people. They are brutal. But so is the Dune Sea. They've survived for thousands of years in these sands and they know the krayt dragon better than anyone here." He explained, looking around the room for a moment as he continued.

"They are raiders, it's true. But they also keep their word. We have struck a deal. If we are willing to leave them the carcass and its ichor, they will stand by our side in battle and vow never to raise a blaster against this town until one of you breaks the peace." He finished and let out a soft breath, looking around the room again then turning his head to nod at Asora and the child as the villagers contemplated their choices.

Though they were not happy about the deal, the villagers agreed. It was in their best interest to after all. They quickly made their way out after Cobb and Mando explained their plan, everyone readying themselves for long day of hard work as they left.

As they began to leave Mando walked over towards Asora, Cobb following behind him, eager to meet the newcomer.

"You guys were great. You two make very good leaders." She praised as she looked at the two happily, her gaze lingering on Mando just a moment longer than usual.

"Thank you, I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you yet. I'm Cobb Vanth." The grey haired man introduced himself quickly, before Mando had a moment to respond. Cobb leaned over, his gloved hand stuck out to reaching for hers.

"Asora Sett." She nodded offering him a smile as the two shook hands briefly, "Well, what're you doing in Mos Pelgo, Asora Sett?" Cobb chimed back, offering her another of his signature smirks as they made eye contact.

"Oh, I'm travelling with Mando." She informed looking over to Mando with a happy smile, Grogu cooing in her lap as he watched their interaction.

Cobb nodded eagerly, looking over to Mando for a moment, "I had no idea he travels with such beautiful company." He charmed, as he smiled over at her.

Asora laughed and shook her head, "Thank you, I wasn't supposed to come but I finished up my business on Mos Eisley. But, I came down here to see if Mando needed my help and to make sure this little guy was okay." She gestured to Grogu as she bounced him softly in her arms, looking over to Mando for a moment before back to Cobb.

"Oh, is he... is he your guys'?" he asked glancing between the two.

There was an awkward silence between the three as Mando and Asora glanced at each other in shock.

"No. He is my foundling." Mando informed, nodding as he looked down at the child.

Cobb nodded and began to turn, sending Asora a smile as he began to leave.

"Okay, well let's get this show on the road. We've got a krayt dragon to kill." He called back as he left leaving the three alone for the time being.

"So, you're in the krayt dragon killing business now?" she teased Mando as she set Grogu on the floor, so he could walk about as he pleased now that the townspeople had left.

He let out a soft huff, a whisper of a laugh but it was enough to make her beam with happiness.

"Well, I couldn't leave them to deal with it alone." He defended as he looked down at her, she nodded in agreement and sighed softly, "so I take it Cobb was supposed to be the Mandalorian?"

"Yes." He nodded looking back to the door Cobb left through then back to her, "I'm sorry." She said, looking up at him with soft eyes. It must've been disappointing for him to find out Cobb wasn't one of his people.

He nodded and smiled at her, she couldn't see it, but he hoped she could, just for a second to know that he appreciated it.

"Did you find out any information on the smuggler while we were gone?" he inquired, he hoped she had, otherwise this trip wouldn't have been completely fruitless.

"Yes! It took some convincing though, the usual." Her response happy, it was a good thing too, he was hoping she would get a lead so he could help her. Though he initially rejected her request for his help, something in him now was telling him to do it.

"That's good." He nodded, his voice almost shaky as he spoke, what should he say, what could he say?

She smiled eagerly in response, nodding with him. The air began to fill with a thick comfortable silence, something neither of the two were ready to break, then she spoke up.

"Well, I'd be happy to do whatever you need me to here. if you're in the krayt dragon killing business so am I." she reminded, offering him a soft nudge as she stood up readying herself for whatever work needed to be done.

He nodded eagerly, the two of them leaving the cantina together, Grogu trailing behind happily as they set off to ready themselves for this particular adventure.

After dealing with only a few issues between the Tusken Raiders and villagers the group made their way to the Krayt dragon's lair hastily.

There wasn't much talk or friendliness among the two groups, but that was to be expected.

Asora began to notice how good Mando truly was at being a leader, while she already knew he was a good bounty hunter and an even better father figure to Grogu it still baffled her. He was so effortlessly good at helping people, he was a good example of what was good in the galaxy. Above all else he prioritized his way of life, but as he did so he made other happy, he helped others, sometimes making their priorities his for the sake of bettering just a few lives.

She found herself growing more and more fond of him, she couldn't ask for better company or a better travelling companion. And most surprising of all, he spoke Tusken.

Once the group got there they settled quickly, all standing at the ridge of the valley beneath them, watching as one of the Sand People walked down to investigate.

She turned her head for a moment, breaking her gaze from the Sand person to Mando. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment, before returning to the krayt dragons' den ahead of them, one of the sand people stopping as it neared the cave. The air was thick with tension, the suspense of the moment nearing as the man turned and spoke to the others after checking to see if the dragon was awake or sleeping.

"What did he say?" Cobb inquired, turning his head to Mando as he waited for a response.

"He says it's sleeping. If we listen carefully, we can hear it breathing." Mando informed, looking ahead at the man.

As he looked ahead one of the Sand People offered both Asora and Cobb a beverage, a very smelly beverage that wafted a thick black ash into the air.

He gave her a look as they both raised the drink together, taking gulping it down with one swig. Asora fought off the urge to gag as she turned to the sand people offering them a small smile, "thank you."

"Let's get to work." Mando insisted as he looked out towards the den, the sand people and villagers quickly rushing towards the Bantha's for the explosives they had strapped on prior to their journey.

"You sure this'll be enough to blow up whatever's in there?" Asora inquired as she put the empty cup down, looking over to Mando.

"It has to be." he sighed before moving to help unload the explosives with the others as Asora nodded eagerly as she followed after him.

"The Tusken's say the belly is the only weak spot, so we have to hit it from below. First, we bury the charges at the opening of the cave. Then, we wake it up. We have to get it angry enough to charge... Once it's far enough out and the belly is above the explosives you hit the detonator." Mando explained as the three of them walked together, looking over towards Cobb to make sure he understood the severity of his task.

"Careful, Marshal." A villager instructed as she handed Cobb the detonator.

"Thank you, Jo. And you stay safe, huh." Cobb instructed as he took the detonator, giving her a nod as she began to walk off.

Once everything was ready and in the sand three Tusken Raiders walked towards the opening of the cave, calling out to it loudly in an effort to wake up the beast. It growled back from the cave, signalling for the three men to begin running for their lives if they did not want to be eaten.

The ground shook as it moved towards them under the sand, rippling through the canyon as the small impression of its body beneath the sand only grew bigger as it neared the three. It's loud roar left the most eerie of feelings among the villagers and Tuskens. As it called out its mouth became visible from the sand, its large mouth paired with a worrying number of teeth was enough to spook Mando for a moment.

As the dragon reached out, its head peeking through the sand the group began to frantically shoot arrows at it, trying to inflict the most amount of damage onto the dragon in the short amount of time it would be above the sand before diving under again.

Just as quickly as it launched out once the dragon began taking hits it fell onto the sand, pulling itself back towards its cave slowly.

The Mandalorian raised a viewfinder to his visor, investigating the commotion, only to realizing it was trying to escape before the group even had a chance to kill it.

"Dank farrick. It's going back in." he frustratedly exclaimed as he kept his eye on the dragon, watching its every movement.

Asora was shocked for a moment, at the dragon and also at Mando's use of the common curse word, she almost wanted to laugh but she knew this wasn't the time. Of course, he swears, he's a bounty hunter.

The Tusken raiders made failed attempts at securing the rope connected to their large arrows as the dragon began to escape, taking the ropes and raiders with it.

"It's retreating." Mando informed as he continued to watch, his small viewfinder stating the very obvious.

"I'm going to hit it." Cobb stated, his eyes trained on the dragon as he gripped the detonator a little tighter, almost scared.

"No wait. We only have one shot. We've gotta get it out." Asora interjected, her eyes flickering between the dragon and Cobb.

"Exactly." Mando agreed, as he lowered his viewfinder.

Down below the towns people and Tuskens were throwing everything they had at the dragon, blaster shots, explosives, anything to get the monster riled up. And they were doing a good job of it.

"Now?" Cobb questioned as he looked over to the dragon, it had dove under the sand again, and it was getting a little too close to his towns people for comfort.

"Not yet. It's gotta come out further." Mando insisted.

The krayt dragon lurched forward completely unphased by the arrows it was being hit with, shaking for a moment to free itself of the pull of the tusken raiders, ripping the rope from the ground and the men holding onto the rope with it.

As the people began running from it, the dragon leaned forward, puking out a strong acidic bile. The bile covering a few tusken men that were just a little too far behind, the acid killing them slowly as the dragon landed on top of them.

"Almost. Almost. Now!" Mando called out as the dragon fell onto the explosives, Cobb hit the button as quickly as possible.

The boom of the explosives filled the canyon, the tint of bright orange and sand flying everywhere as the dragon flailed.

The dragon dove underneath the sand again, hiding any evidence of death or danger. There was a moment of silence, Asora reached down to the ground, her hand flat against it as she closed her eyes to focus on its life force.

"I don't think it's dead." Cob sighed out

"Me either." Mando agreed, nodding at his statement.

"It's still alive... It's alive and very angry." She yelled as she stood up quickly, turning to the two as the dragon burst out of the cliff spewing bile below onto the towns people and the Tusken raiders, again.

"It's picking us off like womp rats... let's get after it!" Cobb urged as he moved to grab his helmet, looking over to Mando for backup. The mandalorian looked over towards the dragon then moved quickly, grabbing his blaster signalling that he was joining Cobb. As the two used their jetpacks to escort them towards the dragon, Asora turned to Grogu who was sitting in Mando's pack on the side of the speeder.

"He'll be okay." Asora assured, looking up at the two as they left then back to Grogu.

"He's always okay." She insisted, maybe she wasn't reassuring Grogu, maybe she was reassuring herself.

The two watched as the men clad in Mandalorian armor made their best effort to shoot the dragon down with their blasters. The dragon looked over to the two as they continued to shoot at it, it dove down into the cliff side they were perched on, biting down on it as it missed them. The two escaped the wrath of the dragon, jetting off behind it towards the valley.

Asora worriedly watched over the two as the dragon began twisting and turning its way around the valley as both the villagers and sand people ran around it frantically. 

Cobb bent over, shooting it with his missile to get its attention and as the dragon began moving towards the two of them Asora looked over to Grogu then Mando.

What did he have planned?

"I got it's attention. Now what?" Cobb called back to Mando as the two watched the dragon move closer towards them

"You still have that detonator?" Mando asked, Cobb nodded and handed it over towards him quickly.

"Take it. Whats the plan?"

The Mandalorian took the detonator then turned towards him, "You and Asora are gonna take care of the child." Mando demanded.

"What are you gonna do?" Cobb asked as he looked over to the dragon, there was nothing for him to do in this situation.

"I don't know, but wish me luck." Mando insisted before he took the butt end of his blaster and bashed it into Cobb's jetpack causing him to go shooting into the sky, out of dangers way.

Mando quickly flicked the Detonator on, activating the explosives strapped to the bantha beside him.

Asora gawked at the scene from where her and Grogu sat, he was going to let the dragon eat him? That was his plan?

Her eyes couldn't move from the scene unfolding in front of her, watching as the Mandalorian tried to keep the started bantha at bay while the dragon quickly approached. 

In one swift movement the dragon dove down onto the two, engulfing them in one large bite.

Asora sighed loudly, her hand moving up to her forehead in frustration, "are you kidding me?" she thought out loud, her eyes still trained on the settling sand. Cobb landed near her and Grogu, sighing loudly at the rough landing, looking over at her then averted his gaze towards the area that the dragon disappeared in.

Grogu's ears lowered as he let out an anxious whine, Asora's looked over to him, giving him a soft reassuring pat. "It's okay, he'll be okay." She knew she shouldn't have assured him so much, and that he shouldn't be this attached. But he was a child, and in moments like these all they need is comfort, not a strict mindset and rules.

Suddenly a loud rumble shook the ground, the dragons roaring echoing though the valley before it even broke through the sand.

The dragon opened its mouth, readying itself for another attack on the group of people below, however as it opened its mouth bolts of electricity channeled through it, the Mandalorian flying out of its mouth, and just as quickly as he appeared, he detonated the explosives.

A hit that not only killed the dragon from the inside but one that also shook the whole canyon as well.

Asora let out a loud sigh of relief at the sight of the man landing in front of the dragon, then turning back to look at it. Cobb chuckled at the sight as he began to stand up from the ground looking over to Asora and Grogu grinning widely.

Asora smiled back, picking up Grogu quickly and rushing to the Mandalorian, the two met in the middle, his beskar covered in a neon green unidentifiable slime.

Asora rolled her eyes at the sight of him and swiftly put Grogu on the ground quickly before beginning to berate him with questions.

"What in the world were you thinking? You! You cocky bucket headed nerf herder? Do you do this all the time?" she yelled, raising her hand and smacking him on the side of the helmet, some goo coming off onto her hand.

"Did you think about what would've happened to the kid? Y'know for someone who's all about the creed! You just let that thing eat you, what was I supposed to tell the kid if you just died, willingly getting eaten by a dragon! You half-witted maniac lazer brain!" she insulted, pushing his chest, the beskar and goop warm to the touch.

"I had a plan. It worked out. What are you mad about?" he asked, looking down at her in confusion, what was she so mad about? He made it out perfectly fine, and killed the dragon in the process.

Grogu worriedly coo'd at Asora, watching intently as the two spoke.

"Oh, you had a plan?" she inquired, her arms crossing as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah. I had a plan." He nodded, staring at her, waiting for her to continue.

"You know one of these days you won't have a plan, my god you are such a bucket brain." She sighed frustratedly, raising her hand to hold her temples.

He reached out, grabbing her wrist as she moved her hands up, stopping her movements as he looked into her eyes.

"I had a plan. I'm fine." He insisted, his voice rough, breathy and exhausted as he looked down at her, his attempt at calming her down seemingly working.

"Fine." She sighed out, looking up at him, a small smiling forming on her lips as she turned down to Grogu.

He lowered his hand from her wrist, flexing his hand at the change of touch.

She sighed loudly as she turned to walk back to her speeder as Grogu and Mando reunited. She grabbed one of her old cloaks from her bag then turned to the two as they began to walk towards the speeders, waiting to give it to him patiently.

As the two approached she handed him the cloak, "for your visor." She mumbled as she turned her back towards him to her speeder occupying herself, she with her bag to avoid any further conversation. 

After a few moments she joined the tuskens who were harvesting the Dragon, offering her help with what little Tusken she knew.

She returned back to the two with a large chunk of the dragon, a gift from the Tuskens to Mando. She placed it on the back of his speeder, he turned to her and leaned his head to the side in confusion, "from the sand people." She explained, wiping her hands off on her robes before returning back to her speeder, readying it to leave.

Cobb approached Mando as he was wrapping the large chunk of meat, "Sorry, I didn't have time to explain." Mando apologized, referencing to the earlier events of him busting his jetpack. 

"No need. This was well earned." Cobb smiled over to him as he placed the Mandalorian armor on the speeder, handing him his helmet on top of the pile of beskar.

"It was my pleasure." Mando stated, with a voice soft and thankful, Asora smiled at the interaction as she watched from afar.

"I hope our paths cross again." Cobb chimed, with a happy smile on his lips as the Mandalorian agreed.

"As do I."

"Oh, and you tell your people I wasn't the one that broke that." Cobb reminded as he turned to leave, walking over to Asora's speeder to bid her a goodbye as well.

"I think I'm gonna miss you the most." Cobb joked as he neared her, leaning on her speeder as the two stood to talk.

"Not too much, I hope." Asora retorted, as she grinned at him, "You be sure to visit next time you're around these parts." Cobb insisted, Asora nodded eagerly at his statement, "If you keep buying Mandalorian armor and I just might have too."

Cobb nodded in agreement and looked back to the group of his people that were beginning to leave.

"Well, til we meet again." He sent her a wide grin, patting the speeder as he began backing up to leave.

"Yes. May the force be with you." She nodded, moving to get onto her speeder, sending him one last wave and smile before looking over to Mando.

"Ready to go?" she called over to the two, Mando nodding in response.

They were finally headed home.


	12. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three make their way back towards Mos Eisley but an unexpected attack leaves them very warm and very grumpy in the desert.

The three travelled as quickly as expected across the sand lands, stopping for the night just before the two suns set on the horizon. 

The two hadn't talked since they arrived, Mando busied himself with the fire as Asora set up their sleeping area.

The soft cooing and giggling of Grogu being the only noises to drift around their camp every so often. Once Asora finished setting up their beds she turned to Grogu, sighing loudly.

"It's been a long day, hasn't it been Grogu?" she cooed, bending down to look at him, his big glossy eyes staring back at her. She smiled and pet his ear softly before turning to the Mandalorian who was a lot more interested in fire making than usual.

She looked over upwards at the dark sky, then back to the child. "Would you like to join me for some meditation little one?" she asked as she began moving to the other side of the camp, settling onto the ground her legs in a criss-cross position as she looked over expectantly at the child.

The child nodded eagerly and waddled his way over, sitting beside her and getting himself into a similar position as Asora. She nodded down at him then closed her eyes, beginning their meditation session.

As the two Jedi meditated the Mandalorian tried not to look over or make much noise. He did not know what they were doing, or why they were doing it, but he figured he better not disturb whatever Jedi magic they were attempting.

He readied the fire, finally getting it to give into his somewhat amateur fire making skills, the few logs he found catching flame slowly. He reached over towards the large chunk of dragon meat, cutting it into pieces for himself, Grogu and Asora to cook.

He readied his cooking station, sliding the meat onto sticks, and leaning them against the fire to cook. He stood up and moved to the side, sitting to watch the fire and the two of them 'meditate'. He leaned back, relaxing his body as he observed the two, Grogu's little eyes closed as he continued to focus on his inner peace, the calm around and within him, Asora beside him donning a similar expression.

She looked quite peaceful, definitely calmer than earlier. Her actions earlier perplexed him, up until now she seemed indifferent towards him, her company more so being the result of her care for the child than anything else. Did she care about him now too? He let out a soft sight at the thought, his gaze on the two moving to just her.

She was beautiful, the light of the fire casting an orange hue onto her face as she concentrated, he tilted his head to the side for a moment in awe. 

What was he doing? She just berated him earlier and hasn't spoken a word to him since, and now he's gawking at her like some kind of love-struck schoolboy. It's not like any of it mattered anyways, with her restriction of attachments and his creed it meant nothing. He sucked in a small breath at the realization then turned his head down to look at his hands for a moment.

After a few moments of silence, he let out a little huff and leaned over to focus his mind on cooking for the three of them, anything to get him distracted enough to forget about his current emotional dilemma.

Asora opened her eyes for a moment to look over towards the grumpy man, as he was leaning over to adjust the skewers of meat and as he was turning she smiled. his armor gleaming with an orange and green hue, the insides of the dragon he had previously obliterated still dried to his armor. She looked off at the sky for a moment, breathing in the cold night air for a moment before her eyes were pulled back towards him, she took in his strong frame, even relaxed he looked ready to kill.

He looked up and over towards her, almost feeling his gaze on her, but as he did so she quickly closed her eyes, returning back towards her previous task of meditation.

After what felt like ages of meditating, reflecting, finding an inner calmness, having their bodies and mind completely relaxed the Mandalorian called the two over for dinner, breaking both of their trances.

The two hastily got up, making their way over towards the Mandalorian as he began dishing out the skewers of cooked dragon meat.

"Thank you, Mando." Asora thanked as she took the skewer from him, moving to sit to the left of him, as Grogu had taken the spot to the right. The Mandalorian nodded in response as he moved to feed Grogu a tiny piece of the meat, the child taking it quickly almost inhaling the cooked dragon upon receiving it.

As the three ate quietly the sound of the crackling fire and whistling wind made conversation around them, the night perfectly calm and serene.

After an hour of blissful serenity Grogu began to doze off in the Mandalorian's arms, his soft snoring signalling to the two that it was bedtime. They made the child comfortable in his tiny cot before moving towards their own.

Neither of them speaking a word to each other as the night enveloped the camp. The sounds of the two breathing and the night air filling the deafening silence. Asora turned her head to look over towards the Mandalorian, observing his sleep attire, which consisted of his normal attire, minus his blaster, cape and jetpack.

"Is it comfortable to sleep in your helmet?" she asked, looking over to the side of his shiny helmet, observing the sharp ridges and curves as she spoke.

"Comfortable enough." Mando answered, his head turning slightly in her direction to engage in the quiet conversation.

"I don't believe you." She whispered back, observing the helmet a little longer before turning her head back to face the stars, trying her hardest not to get too fascinated with the armor she was previously observing.

"You don't have too." He quietly retorted, his voice just loud enough to come out of his modulator normally but not too loud to wake the sleeping foundling beside him.

"I know...." She trailed off, her eyes flickering to the man beside her for a moment before softly sighing, "I'm sorry for insulting you today." She apologized, her voice faint, barely above a whisper.

He nodded and turned his head to look at her, to accept her apology properly. As he turned to look at her, she moved her head to look at him, the two of them making eye contact as he spoke. 

"It's okay. You were worried about the kid." She thought for a moment before nodding, "Yeah..." She agreed, her gaze shifting slightly to the outline of his helmet, then back towards his visor.

"You're not actually a bucket brain." She stated, smiling over towards him before continuing, "you were just acting like one."

He let out a little huff that resembled the beginnings of a laugh as he rolled his eyes at the insult. Maybe he was acting like a bucket brain, but he wasn't anywhere close to an actual bucket brain, not like the imps.

"Sure." He agreed quietly, turning his head as he spoke to look at the stars, raising his hands behind his head to ready himself for sleep.

After a few moments of silence, he turned his head to look over towards her, opening his mouth to say something else but as his eyes fell on her closed eyes, he decided against it.

He smiled softly at her before whispering a quiet "Goodnight." Before he too, drifted to sleep beside her. The three of them entering a peaceful, well deserved slumber.

The next morning the two set out on their speeders for Mos Eisley quite quickly, packing their things as quickly as possible before they left, both Asora and Mando eager to get back to the ship for different reasons.

Mando felt like all he needed right now to feel better was to get off this planet and clean off, and Asora felt like all she needed right now was to see her droid. She had felt bad for leaving it alone for so long, who were they going to beep at in her absence?

As the two left on the speeders their trip seemed to be coming to an uneventful close, the most interesting thing to happen on their ride so far being Grogu's little giggles here and there, lifting both of their spirits.

However, just as they began passing through a canyon Asora could sense a form of oncoming danger. She looked around as the two zoomed through the canyon, just to double check there was nothing in their way or any dangerous people nearby.

As she was looking around the canyon for any sign of danger, she completely missed the rope in front of her and Mando, her eyes trained on the rocky canyon wall to the left of her, too distracted to see what was right in front of her.

By the time she realized there was a rope in front of the two there was nothing for her to do except brace herself for her fall and try to dodge the objects as they flew through the air around her.

Once she landed on the ground beside Mando a gang of gangsters and thieves surrounded them, she groaned loudly, looking over towards Mando as he landed on the ground beside her, haphazardly having his jetpack ignited to brace his fall.

She stood quickly unclipping her master's saber as the men surrounding them began shooting at them. She began blocking the incoming shots to the best of her ability, moving forward towards the Mandalorian as he began to battle two of the thieves, she used the back of the hilt to hit the man to the left of the Mandalorian in the head, knocking him out upon impact. She then turned towards the tiny man as he began approaching them with his blaster raised at the two of them.

Before she could think to pull the gun out of his hand the Mandalorian grappled it and ripped it out, ducking as he pulled it back hitting the man beside him in the head with the blaster, knocking him unconscious.

The Mandalorian groaned as he pushed himself off of the canyon wall he was leaning against, rushing towards the tiny man as he ran towards the child.

As Asora turned to look at the scene unfolding the Mandalorian rose his hands up cautiously, the thief had Grogu in his arms with a knife to his neck.

"Wait! Don't hurt the child. If you put one mark on him, there's no place you will be able to hide from me." The Mandalorian pleaded as he stepped closer, his hands still raised in defeat.

"We can strike a bargain. There's a lot of value in this wreckage. Take your pick...But leave the child."

As Asora approached the thief with him she could feel Grogu's fear radiating off of him, his coo's for help making it all the more evident.

She sighed loudly, retracting the purple blade of her lightsaber, clipping the hilt back onto her belt as she began reaching out to the man holding the child, she had to do something.

Once she thought out a quick game plan she rushed forward, holding her hand out and using the force to rip the dagger out of his grip and into hers, with her free hand she grabbed Grogu from his arms and stuck the dagger in her into the theif's neck.

She pushed him down onto the ground, the only sound to leave his mouth being a started yelp before he died. She scoffed loudly at the Mandalorian as she turned towards him, the child in hand.

"Only fools' bargain with murderous thieves." Her remark ringing through his ears as he frowned.

He nodded as he approached her, taking the child from Asora to check him for injuries. Before turning to look out towards his belongings strewn on the desert floor.

"I had it under control." He grumbled as he adjusted his grip on Grogu, looking over to her in annoyance.

"I know. I wasn't willing to wait for you to get it under control. The child was defenseless, I was not going to watch him die while you tried to trade him for a bunch of junk." She retorted, gesturing down towards all the scrap metal and their belongings around them.

He grunted in response, moving towards the belongings, his back to her as he mumbled back a remark to himself.

She sighed and joined him, moving to collect her belongings with him.

"I'm sorry, but you do realize you don't have to do everything right. I am here for the child, but I am also here for you." She admitted, looking over to him for a moment as they walked, he stopped and turned to her, letting a moment of awkward silence fill the space between him before he spoke.

"I know." He nodded, sparing her a glance as he began picking his things up, thinking out a way to carry all of it back towards Mos Eisley.

The three quickly made their way after picking up their belongings, the Mandalorian insisting he take the bulk of the load, leaving him to carry the larger majority of the heavy weight. Asora fashioned her bag of belongings into a backpack of sorts, the heavy bag weighing down more than expected.

"Let me carry the child." Asora insisted as she turned to him, the two had been walking for quite a while at this point and his heavy breathing was beginning to dwell on her conscience.

"No." he huffed out as he continued to push forward, Asora reached out and grabbed his forearm softly, "It wasn't a question, you will wear yourself thin like this." The Mandalorian stopped for a moment, tilting his head to look down towards her hand.

An action that caused Asora to quickly retract it, feeling as if she had crossed a line.

"Fine." He agreed. Stopping to put the belongings that were previously on his shoulders onto the ground to hand her the bag the child was in on his hip.

Once she took the child from him and secured him around her shoulder she spoke again. "The armor too." She insisted, reaching out to grab it from him before he could refuse.

He begrudgingly handed it over, though he didn't want to say it he was thankful for her help, but the heat and all the walking had made him grumpier than he would like to admit, and they still had a long trek ahead of them.

In his mind it was best not to linger or worry over sweet 'thank you's and gracious deeds, they just needed to get to the ship and get off of this hot rock.

By the time the three got to Mos Eisley it was dark and the air was thick with the humid aftermath of the scorching day. The three of them were more than thankful for their feet for getting them home, or as close to it as they could be.

"I need to speak with Peli before we go to the ship." The Mandalorian informed as he led them towards the cantina, Asora fighting back her urge to whine about the detour as she followed.

She had to remind herself that even though she had gotten all she could have wanted from Tatooine, the Mandalorian was still leaving relatively empty handed. She would be happy to stand by as he made one last attempt at finding his people before they finally left.

They walked into the bar, the Mandalorian leading Asora and Grogu towards Peli Motto's booth.

"You two finally found a Mandalorian and ya killed him?" Peli asked the two as she looked up from her hand of cards towards them, the insectoid beside her mumbling in a foreign language as the Mandalorian responded.

"He wasn't Mandalorian. I bought this armor off of him, though."

"What'd that set you back?" she inquired.

"Killed the krayt dragon for him." The Mandalorian's response was short, quick and pretty cocky, or at least thats what Asora thought.

"Oh. Is that all?" Peli mocked as she shook her head at him, her gaze changing from him towards her cards soon after.

"He was my last lead on finding other Mandalorians." Mando griped, his gaze still stuck on her expectantly.

The insectoid looked towards Peli from his cards, telling her something that neither Mando or Asora could translate.

"Okay. Well, you might be in luck. Dr. Mandible says he can connect you with someone who can help you, if you cover his call this round. It's what he said." She informed as she gestured towards the current game they were playing, Asora's gaze shifted from Peli towards the table. It looked to be a pretty high stakes game, something she did not expect from Peli.

"What's the bet?" Mando asked, his voice rough from exhaustion, just ready to get the information and go back towards the crest, to finally relax.

"Five hundred." Peli admitted, her lips pursed as she looked over towards him, almost expecting him not to cover it.

"That's a high-stakes game." Mando chimed back, his head tilted to the side in surprise as he inspected the two.

"Hey, he's on a hot streak." Peli defended as Dr. Mandible turned towards him, speaking incoherently.

The Mandalorian sighed and moved his hand towards one of his bags, pulling out 500 credits and tossing them on the table as he nodded towards the two of them expectantly.

"Is the pot right?... Ha! Idiot's Array! Pay up, thorax!" Peli called out as she slammed her cards onto the table excitedly.

"I thought you said he was on a hot streak?" Mando questioned

"Oh! Stop your cryin'. You'll rust." Peli joked as she collected her credits, looking over towards Dr. Mandible as he told her the information they were betting on.

Asora laughed at the joke turning towards the Mandalorian as she did so, wondering if he really did rust when he got teary eyed. That would be a sight for sore eyes.

"All right. He says the contact will rendezvous at the hangar. They'll tell you where to find some Mandalorians. That's what you wanted right?"

"Yes."

"All right, well, stop your mopin'. More importantly, did you bring back any of that dragon meat? Better not have any maggots on it. I don't like maggots." Peli ranted as she led the three of them back towards the hangar, the group all too eager to get back and finally relax.

Once the three of them made it into the hangar with the razor crest the Mandalorian rushed into the ship, ready to officially put all of his belongings down for good.

Asora smiled at him as she turned towards Grogu, reaching her hands towards him and picking him up out of the pouch and placing onto the ground so he could roam freely as she joined the Mandalorian on the ship to greet her droid.

"Could you please watch him, Peli?" she called over her shoulder towards the frizzy haired woman, Peli nodding eagerly in response.

"Could i!" she agreed excitedly rushing towards the child, to shower him in affections as Asora disappeared into the ship.

"MR?" she called out, peering around the ship for her cheerful droid, "Who?" the Mandalorian called back in confusion.

"My droid." Asora responded as she started to look around the ship, rolling her eyes at the question, who else would she be talking about other than her droid?

A surprised beep echoed through the ship; from the corner of the hull. She rushed over and began dusting it off, though she was only gone for a few days MR still somehow managed to collect dust, as if it had been years since she last saw the droid.

"Hey little guy, ya miss me?" she questioned, backing up from the droid once it was dusted off to give it room to roam, it beeped happily in response causing a smile to creep its way onto Asora's lips.

"I missed you too, I promise next time I leave you can tag along." She reassured, she turned her head for a moment to peer around the hull, "Why do you talk to that thing like that?" Mando questioned as he neared her, walking towards her form his pile of belongings, his cloak on the floor behind him leaving him in only his beskar and helmet, almost bare without it.

"This thing is called MR. MR is very helpful, I think it's only fair that I treat it with respect. Not everyone around here treats droids like scrap metal." She responded, her tone almost snarky. Mando took a moment to register her words as he nodded at her, his head tilting to the side slightly.

"I know." Mando responded monotonously, he wasn't particularly in the mood to bicker over whether or not droids were useful. The droid on Nevarro was a prime example of a good droid, but MR? All he'd seen the metal bucket do so far was fix minor issues in the hull, nothing to write home about.

Asora nodded and turned back towards the droid, smiling down at it as it chirped at her happily, Mando almost felt jealous of how sweet she was towards it. 

While she was snarky, and at times cocky she was always so caring and sweet towards everyone around her. He wondered if she thought as fondly about him as she did the droid. If she cared for him or if this was just a one-off companionship, if she was just around to finish her quest and to ensure the child's safety.

Whatever thoughts he had about it he chose not to brew on it, it wasn't his place to want to have her think of him like that anyways, its not like she could even if she wanted too. 

It was the Jedi way, no attachments. 

He reminded himself as he turned to move towards the refresher, ready to wash the days travel off of him and clean his beskar. Changing his thoughts to something more productive, it didn't matter to him anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫! 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲? 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭!  
> 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠!! (𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝!)


	13. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐢 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asora and Mando take on the Frog Lady, escorting her through the galaxy however, New Republic pilots make that task a little trickier than expected.

The thee of them accompanied by MR met up again to have dinner, the chunk of krayt dragon finally cooked to perfection. Asora, Mando and Grogu sat and watched patiently as the meat was cooking, waiting for Peli to return from her trip to dig to join them for dinner.

Peli had previously left to go and rendezvous with the contact who had information on other Mandalorians, and when she returned, she called over at the droid turning the meat.

"Hey, don't overcook it, Treadwell. I like it medium rare! I'm not some Rodian, for crying out loud." Peli wagged her finger disapprovingly at the droid as she approached both Mando and Asora, the two awkwardly standing next to each other, the air changing from awkward to boisterous as Peli approached.

"All right, here's the deal. A Mandalorian covert is close. It's in this sector, one system trailing." Peli informed as she turned towards the Mandalorian, her glossy eyes trailing over the cooking krayt dragon meat then towards Mando, meeting the Mandalorian's eyes as she spoke.

"Are they the ones that left Nevarro?" the Mandalorian inquired as he shifted his gaze down towards Peli curiously.

"Don't know. All I know is that the contact will lead you to them." Peli nodded towards Mando as she spoke, her hands raised to her hips as she waited a moment for him to respond.

"How much will it cost me?"

"Well, that's the great news. It's free. Aside from a finder's fee, of course." Peli beamed, the deal seeming too good to be true, Asora quirked her brow at the statement, what was the bad news if that was the great news?

"What's the not great news?" 

"Nothing. Its all great." Peli insisted, the Mandalorian to nod in response, "Okay." He acknowledged as he turned to move.

"However, there is one small skank in the scud pie." Peli chimed awkwardly, looking over towards the armour clad man for a moment before she continued.

"Which is?"

"The contact wants passage to the system." Peli raised her hands in defence for a moment, almost to ensure the Mandalorian knew this wasn't her fault and that this was just business.

"Do you vouch for them?" Mando inquired, leaning down to gauge her response. 

"On my life." She insisted eagerly, nodding to herself as she spoke.

"Fine." Mando agreed, turning towards the fire and Gorgu before she could continue.

"And... No hyperdrive."

"You want me to travel sublight? Deal's off." The Mandalorian disagreed, shaking his head as he looked down at the frizzy haired woman. No way was he travelling sub light, especially with the empire after him and the kid.

"It's one sector over." Peli insisted,

"Moving fast is the only thing keeping us safe." Mando defended, gesturing towards himself, Asora and Grogu, his voice firm and rough as he spoke.

"These are mitigating circumstances." Peli argued, her expression bordering on annoyed as she tried to get her point across towards the thick-headed tin can.

"What do you mean "mitigating"?" The Mandalorian persisted, his voice coming off confused and a bit annoyed as he spoke. He leaned down to Peli, almost challenging her to show him what was so important that it needed to travel sublight.

Just as the two finished their last sentence in their squabble a frog lady entered the hangar, waving awkwardly over towards Peli, this woman must've been the client.

The Mandalorian leaned back in surprise for a moment, raising his hands up towards his hips as he leaned down towards Peli again to make a remark.

"I'm not a taxi service."

"I know, I know, I hear you. But I can vouch for her." Peli insisted, raising her hand up for a moment to stop whatever comeback the Mandalorian had to speak with the frog lady.

Asora's gaze shifted from the conversation between the frog lady and Peli towards Grogu, she could feel the awe, and excitement radiating off of him. She shook her head no at him as she began walking towards him, leaning down to pick him up before he could walk himself towards the frog lady's backpack.

The forg lady's backpack was an incubator of sorts, a vibrant blue capsule full of her large eggs. Asora assumed was the reason for the trip, though Asora wouldn't particularly want to eat the frog ladies eggs she wasn't surprised at Grogu's hunger for them.

Asora had seen people eat worse things, but she certainly was not going to let him eat them on her watch.

She carried Grogu towards Peli and Mando as the frog lady left their company to make her way onto the Razor Crest.

"Do you know the husband?" The Mandalorian asked Peli, sparing a glance towards Asora as she joined the two of them again.

"No. I met her ten minutes before you walked in." Peli stated matter of factly, shrugging as she looked over towards Mando for a response.

"I thought you said you vouched for her on your life?" The Mandalorian asked, his voice soft and astounded as he tilted his head to the side slightly, clearly confused.

"What can I say, I'm an excellent judge of character." Peli joked as she reached her hand out, grabbing a piece of cut up cooked dragon her droid had prepared for her, taking a large bite as she looked over to both Asora and Mando happily.

"Better judge of character than most." Asora agreed softly, bouncing Grogu as she spoke, looking between Mando and Peli before back down towards Grogu.

"Well, Thank you!" Peli chimed enthusiastically, sending a wide grin towards Asora before she returned to her slab of meat in hand.

"I am going to go relax in the ship, do you want me to do anything before I go?" Asora asked, looking over to Mando as she inquired. She hoped she didn't have to do anything, to be able to quickly rush off, to finally sleep. 

"No." The Mandalorian shook his head, reaching his arms out to grab the child from her arms as he spoke, "Go rest, I've got it from here." He insisted, pulling Grogu from her arms happily as Asora nodded in agreement.

Asora made her way back into the ship, situating herself against the right wall, near a vent. She often found herself getting comfortable in this general area when she needed rest on the ship. The heat from the engines radiated enough onto the wall that made it a little bit comfier to lean against as opposed to the completely cold and solid floor. It was also directly in front of the Mandalorian's and Grogu's sleeping quarters, it gave her a good view point just in case anything we're to happen to the two.

She drifted off to sleep long before the ship left the orbit of Tatooine. The Mandalorian didn't notice though, he was too caught up in the awkward interaction he was currently having with the frog lady to notice the absence of the Jedi Knight he had grown fond of.

As the Mandalorian made his way down from the cockpit after setting up the navigation system and setting them on their course to Trask. His eyes widened at the sight in front of him, his foundling, his kid eating the frog lady's offspring. He rushed over grabbing the child hastily, calling out to him, directing the child to not to eat the eggs as he moved towards him.

"No! No, no, no! That is not food!" he scolded as he picked the child up.

"Don't do that again."

The child burped at him and cooed softly in response, clearly unbothered by his past actions, his meal well worth the trouble he had gotten into. Mando glanced around for Asora, ready to scold her as well for letting him eat the unfertilized eggs but to his dismay he was met with a sleeping Asora, softly snoring as she leaned herself up onto the wall.

She looked too peaceful for someone in a very clearly uncomfortable position, he huffed to himself and then averted his gaze from her towards his child.

"Nap time."

He walked the child back towards his sleeping quarters, placing him in the makeshift hammock that was currently serving as his crib. He looked around the bed for a blanket, turning his head back to glance towards the unconscious girl before back towards his bed.

His cape will have to do for now.

He pulled the cape off of his back as he walked towards her, kneeling beside her to place it around her, a warmhearted effort to make her at least mildly comfortable.

She coo'd softly in her sleep in response to his touch, he felt his heart skip a beat for a moment, scared he had woken her with his kind gesture. He let out a soft breath of relief once a few moments passed, signifying that she was still deep asleep. He moved his hand up, brushing her front braid back softly, he wasn't thinking as he moved, his gloved hand stopping for a moment as it reached her ear.

What was he doing?

He widened his eyes at his impulsive actions, retracting his hand form her profile, taking in her features for one very fleeting moment before pushing himself up from his crouching position and making his way back towards his bed.

He found himself fast asleep moments later, the exhaustion from the past days journey enough to wash his worries away for now.

The three of them were abruptly woken up by violent beeping, the Razor Crest's unharmonious screeches echoing through the ship loudly as both Asora and the Mandalorian jolted up, the two rushing towards the cockpit to investigate the root of this very audible issue.

MR beeped worriedly at Asora as she rushed up, "Y'know if we had MR helping navigate while you aren't there this wouldn't happen."

The Mandalorian grunted in response, pulling himself up the ladder and making his way into the cockpit as Asora pestered him.

"You wanna lug that thing up there then be my guest." He called out, as he made his way into the cockpit and into his chair, swivelling towards the command board, flicking a few buttons as he moved to silence the beeping.

Asora followed suit, situating herself in the chair to the left of him, her ears perking up as they received transmission from the two X-wings that began to swoop onto the sides of the ship, sandwiching the Crest as they began to interrogate the group.

"Razor Crest, M-One-Eleven. Come in, Razor Crest. Do you copy?"

Asora's eyebrows pinched together at the message, what was going on? She peered over her shoulder to the side of her, she took in the X-wing for a moment and let out a soft scoff.

"This is Razor Crest. Is there a problem?"

"We noticed your transponder is not emitting." The new republic pilot inquired, the Mandalorian taking in a small breath as he prepared his awkward rebuttal.

"Yes, I'm pre-Empire surplus. I'm not required to run a beacon."

"That was before. This sector is under New Republic jurisdiction. All craft are required to run a beacon."

"Thank you for letting me know. I'll get right on it." The Mandalorian tilted his head awkwardly, rolling his head back to lightly crack his neck, maker this was awkward.

"Not a problem. Safe travels."

"May the Force be with you." Mando chimed back, his voice soft, slightly uncomfortable to be using the statement.

"And also with you."

As silence filled the hull after the New Republic pilot responded Asora let out a breathy laugh, looking over towards the Mandalorian with her eyebrow quirked cheekily as she joked, "May the force be with you?" her voice mimicking the raspiness of the Mandalorians as she spoke.

"I don't sound like that." He barked back, shifting in his seat as he turned to look back at her then towards the nav again.

"Whatever you say, I think it was very charming. Such fond goodbyes for the New Republic." Asora quipped as she turned her gaze from the grumpy beskar man towards the fighter pilot beside her.

"Just one more thing."

"Yes?"

"I'm gonna need you to send us a ping. We're out here sweeping for Imperial holdouts"

"I'll let you know if I see any."

"I'm still gonna need you to send us that ping."

"Well, I'm not sure I have that hardware online."

"You're a bad liar." Asora whispered as she leaned closer towards Mando, looking over his shoulder at the command board where he most definitely had the hardware to send that ping.

"We can wait."

"You wanna do this instead?" the Mandalorian whispered back, leaning over to her as if to say, 'like you could handle it.'

"Yeah, I... Doesn't seem to be working." Mando trailed off as he responded to the pilot.

"That's too bad. If we can't confirm you're not Imperial, you're gonna have to follow us to the outpost at Adelphi."

"Oh, wait. There it is. Transmitting now." The Mandalorian faked surprise as he flicked the switch, sending the two pilots his ping as the frog lady behind him began wailing at the rude awakening of the whirring beep of the transmission.

"Be quiet!" The Mandalorian shushed as he turned back towards the command board.

"Whats that?"

"Uh, nothing. The hypervac is drawing off the exhaust manifold."

"Carson, can you switch over to channel two?"

"Copy."

As the two pilots switched channels Asora shared a look with Mando, "Do you do this often? Because it does not seem like you do this often." She asked, her gaze lingering on his visor as she offered him a cocky smirk, "No. I don't." Mando huffed out, shaking his head at her as he turned to look back in front of him.

As the Mandalorian stared ahead at the dark abyss ahead of him the two X-wings began to change their wing configuration, their s-foils entering attack positions.

"Was your craft in the proximity of New Republic Correctional Transport, Bonthan-Five?"

Before Asora or the Frog lady had a moment to register what was happening the Mandalorian jolted the ship down, directing the ship towards the closest nearby planet in an attempted escape route.

Asora groaned as she felt the push of the seat belts against her chest, not expecting the sudden jolt. She quickly readjusted herself and tried to brace herself for whatever Mando was attempting to do, for a bounty hunter he wasn't a very good pilot.

He curved the Crest down nearing the atmosphere of his desired planet, the ship whirring through the wind as he curved through the clouds, the speed shaking the ship more and more as he began to reach the atmosphere of the planet.

"Razor Crest, stand down. We will fire. I repeat, we will fire."

The Mandalorian curved the ship around the corner, the shaking making it clear to him that entering the atmosphere at his current speed might break the ship. He turned the ship around the corner and pushed the gears forward dropping the ship down into a free fall as it began to enter the atmosphere at an alarming rate.

"You better have a plan Mando." Asora yelled as she dug her hands into the chair, looking over towards the beskar clad man for any reassurance that he actually knew what he was doing.

"I have a plan!" He yelled back, his gaze on the terrain in front of them unchanging as he spoke, truth be told he didn't have a plan, but he wasn't about to go tell her that.

He ducked the ship into a nearby canyon, directing it around its ridges and peaks as he navigated his way away from the two x-wings.

"C'mon, Razor Crest, don't make us do it."

The pilots command was blocked out by the crew in the cockpit by the whining of the ship as it slid through the air and into a nearby crack in the canyon, slipping out of the X-wings sight just long enough for a second of relief to set in.

The Mandalorian was groaning and huffing as he pulled at the controls, trying his very best to navigate his way through the small opening.

"Hold on." He directed looking back to both the Frog Lady and Asora for a moment before he looked back ahead sliding the Razor Crest onto the ground, skidding it to a very rough and unpleasant stop.

As the ship stopped for a moment, shaking at the abrupt landing Asora let out a loud sigh and reached up to push one of her braids that had come loose out of her way, looking over to Mando for a moment as he began to flick the controls off the two shared a small glance, she sent him a small smile, as if to say, 'thanks for not killing us.'

But the moment was cut short when the ground beneath them began breaking, the weight of the ship causing the ice they landed on to concave, sending the ship down into the planet.

The three of them braced themselves for the fall, gripping onto whatever was nearby as the ship hit the ground again.

Before Asora could think reached her arms out, grabbing onto the Mandalorian as she was pushed forward with the momentum, the two of them smacking into the command board as the ship landed.

Before either of them had a moment to think they were knocked unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝐡𝐞𝐲! 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞,, 𝐲𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬!
> 
> 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧!
> 
> 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝!


	14. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐯𝐞

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finds themselves in quite the sticky situation, arachnid filled caves proving to be their biggest enemy leaving them to their own devices. Luckily enough an unexpected hero coming to save the day.

Asora awoke in a haze, her head aching from the impact. She leaned herself up and off of The Mandalorian and rubbing her head, as she looked at her hand she noticed the blood. She had acquired a small gash on her forehead from the collision into the Mandalorian, her skull proving to be weaker than the Mandalorians beskar helmet.

She groaned, moving to stand up, the realization hitting her that they had been out for quite a while. A thin layer of frost covering her robes displaying itself as a signifier of that.

She shook leaned down to shake the Mandalorians shoulder, her head just behind his head, turning to see if he was responding to her movements or if he was still unconscious. He jolted up, his helmet jerking back and into her head, again.

She let out a yelp, her hands raising up to hold her forehead as it began to bleed again, “I’m gonna get the kid, try not to hit anyone else with that bucket of yours.” She directed as she moved from him, down towards the hull before he even had a moment to register what had just happened.

She opened the doors and exited down into the hull as the Mandalorian began comforting and moving the frog lady, ensuring that he would find her eggs and get some blankets.

By the time he had joined her in the hull he bore witness to Asora scolding the child, one of the frog lady’s eggs in his hand and the tank in hers.

“Little one, you must’nt do things like this. These are her offspring, not dinner.” She pointed before she picked him up with her free arm, walking towards the Mandalorian with the eggs and child in hand.

“Found them!” The Mandalorian called up towards the frog lady, moving to grab the tank from her hands and bring them to their owner.

As he reached out to grab them, he observed her face, the blood streaked across her forehead in what must’ve been an attempt to wipe it off, the gash still prevalent and slowly bruising. He felt a pit of guilt begin to build within him, it was clearly an accident that he had hurt her, but that didn’t seem to make it any better.

It seemed as if she took the hit with stride, unfazed by both the cold and the open wound on her head. She was focusing completely on keeping the child safe.

After he brought the eggs back up to the frog lady he came back to find Grogu wrapped in a small blanket, perched against the wall as Asora began to pull out a medpac from her bag, along with another cloak and gloves.

She turned to Mando and nodded him over as she spoke, “Can you spray the bacta on? I don’t have a good enough view point to do it myself.” She asked, extending her arm out towards him, the spray in her hands as he reached to take it from her.

He only nodded, he couldn’t speak, what was he going to say?

She pulled on her cloak and gloves before she gave him a nod and a smile, her way of saying ‘im ready’

He stepped closer, his frame towering over hers as he moved his hand up, the bacta spraying out onto her forehead with the press of his finger. The soothing spray showering Asora with its healing powers as it .

“I-Uh I didn’t mean to…” he trailed off for a moment, his voice soft as he looked down at her, taking in her soft expression as he spoke, his knees weakening as he tried to muffle out a sentence.

“I know.” She nodded, sending him a small smile as she looked up at him.

Why did he feel so bad? It was just a scratch, really. It wasn’t like he stabbed her, just lightly headbutted her, accidentally. 

Maybe it was the cold that was making him feel so weak, so fragile. He didn’t like it, whatever was making him like this.

She smiled as he finished spraying her forehead, bandaging it up shortly after to ensure that it would heal as nicely as possible.

“Thank you, Mando.” Her voice soft and sweet, the Mandalorian nodded in response, opening his mouth again to speak, but no words came. He was tongue tied and for what?

Maker, the cold was doing a number on him.

“You know there is no need to feel guilty over an accident Mando.” Asora chirped up, in an attempt to reassure him. She could feel his guilt, his mixed emotions, it was pouring out from him.

“I don’t feel guilty.” He responded, his voice a bit shaky, his defense barely believable.

“Yes, you do. I can sense it.”

“Maybe your senses are wrong.” His voice was defensive, almost barking back at her with his response.

“The force never lies, bounty hunters do though.” She quipped back, her hand raising to her hip as the two of them squabbled.

A silence fell over the two as the Mandalorian tried to conjure up a reputable rebuttal, but he couldn’t, as he looked down at her he was tongue tied again, his mouth slightly agape in awe as he looked down at her. Her stubborn, cocky, sassy attitude growing on him more and more with every moment. His heart warming at the idea of how fond he had become of her. He finally nodded; his eyes trained on her face as he agreed.

“Fine.”

She smiled at him nodding to herself, “Okay.” She turned towards her droid, leaving the Mandalorian to his own thoughts as she began to direct the droid towards some critical areas of the ship that needed mechanical attention.

He situated himself beside the child as he watched, his gaze on her shifting from the two towards the interior of the hull, inspecting it for any major issues or problems that needed immediate attention. He figured it would be best to wait it out, let the two work on fixing the issues that needed immediate attention and let the cold drift in overnight to give the group a better idea on the issue areas on the ship.

After a few hours of the droid and girl began working outside in the cold. Asora and the droid had fixed a fraction of the issues on the ship, though there was still a large amount of damage to be fixed the two cheered as they finished fixing the heat sink and cooling radiator panels, moving towards the blaster canon on the left side of the ship.

As the two began their work on the blaster the Mandalorian joined them, toolbox in hand, “What have you fixed so far?” he asked, peering over towards the diligently working droid and the frosty girl, her intricate hairdo peppered with snowflakes and frost from the cold.

“Heat sink and cooling radiator panels, figured we’d want heat first if we’re here for a while.” She responded then turned towards him and pointed up at the engine behind them.

“The deflector shield projectors are shot, and I haven’t gotten a good look at the ion acceleration chamber, but my guess is, its blown.” She informed, turning back towards the broken blaster, her gloves covered in cooling gel from the wire’s she’d been fiddling with as MR began welding the broken bits of the blaster back together.

“You know a lot about ships for a Jedi.” His voice surprised, his head tilted to the side, waiting for a response as he stood in front of the two.

“I was friends with a boy who fixed ships and speeders near the village where I grew up.” She responded, her eyes glazing over with memories for a moment, the Mandalorian nodded in response as he joined her, helping both her and MR fix the ship as the conversation continued.

“Was he a Jedi too?” he asked, curious to know more. Who was this mysterious village boy? Was she friends with him like she is with him and Grogu?

“No, but he did help me train when I was a padawan. We grew up together, I befriended him only a few years after I met Master Windu.” She informed, offering the Mandalorian a smile as she looked over towards him from the wiring.

“What happened to him?”

“He left, just before I went through my Jedi trials. I do not know where he is now, he was a very dear friend of mine.” She sighed softly as she spoke, her eyes fixated on the wiring she was currently patching. She had made peace with the departure of her friend; she had let those feelings die long ago but she did miss him when she spoke of him. However, it was best not to dwell on those feelings. It was time to focus on the future and not the past.

“I thought the Jedi couldn’t have attachments?” Mando inquired, a bit confused at her statement. If the Jedi could hold no attachments then why did she have someone so dear to her? What did that mean?

“I can have friends; I do and can care for all living things around me. But no, I cannot and should not form attachments. I have been trained to let go of those feelings from a very young age.” She informed, her gaze shifting from the blaster to the Mandalorian, offering him a comforting nod and smile as he processed what she said.

“Were you attached to your friend?” He asked, his curiosity getting the best of his mouth, thinking aloud as the two of them shared eye contact.

“Maybe, it was very long ago. I was a child but even then, my master made sure to remind me of our code, of where attachments could lead me.”

“The dark path?” Mando inquired, his voice a little shaky as he spoke, not quite confident on his Jedi information to properly ask questions. This was out of his realm of understanding.

Asora nodded with a sigh, after a few moments she clipped a wire into place and pulled her hands from the inside of the blaster turning towards the Mandalorian who had occupied his hands with a part of the standard passive sensor that broke in the fall.

“Love and attachments make people foolish. Your attachments cloud your judgement and your actions. Love causes people to forget death, to try to best it.” Asora explained, looking over to the Mandalorian for a moment then back towards her hands as she spoke.

“I have heard stories of the best of us falling prey to their attachments. It can lead you to a side of the force that is unkind and evil. That is a way of life I cannot follow.”

Silence fell on them again as she finished speaking, the two of them processing her words as the soft wind and snowfall played background noise to their thoughts.

The Mandalorian’s heart ached at her words. Her religion, her way of life being a constant reminder of his somewhat unrequited feelings. Feelings he hadn’t had time to process, to acknowledge.

But maybe it was for the better, it was easier this way.

After a few moments’ MR beeped at the two of them, chirping to itself to say the work on the blaster canon was done.

The two turned from each other towards the droid and nodded, Mando’s head tilting as he inspected the droid’s handy work.

“The droid’s not half bad.” He mentioned as he moved towards the front of the ship, readying himself to begin his work on the damaged front deflector shield projectors and front repulsor lifts.

MR chirped back and wiggled its head side to side happily, Asora chuckled and nodded.

“Good job MR. I’ll lift you towards the Astromech socket, from there you should be able to help me fix the engines.” She informed, pushing herself up onto the ship, standing on top of the cockpit as she extended her hand out, using the force to pick the droid up and carefully carry it through the air into to socket in front of her.

An hour or so had passed by the time the child had wandered out, the Mandalorian calling out to the child as it splurged out gibberish at him.

“How ‘bout you come over here, give me a hand? Make yourself useful.”

Asora peered down towards the child as it sighed, asking him if he was okay.

He informed her that the frog lady had left, off towards a cave, he waddled away as he informed her telepathically, waiting for her and his father to join him.

“Stay here MR. We’ll be back.” She called back, giving the droid a friendly wave as she jumped down from the engine to the ground, following the child as the Mandalorian begrudgingly trailed behind.

“Hey! Where are you two going? Come back here!”

Asora picked the child up as she turned towards the Mandalorian behind them, “The lady has left, we are going to find her.”

The three followed the trail of footsteps the frog lady left behind, leading them towards a cave, weaving through the ice canyons. After a few minutes of tracking the frog lady they happened upon her, swimming in a hot spring with her eggs.

“There you are!” Mando called out, striding towards her hastily.

As the Mandalorian rushed towards her, Asora trailed behind, peering around the cave curiously. Something about it felt off, suspiciously comfortable.

She walked towards the group, placing Grogu at the side of the hot spring as the two began collecting the woman’s eggs.

Asora turned from them, investigating the room, taking a quick perimeter check before stopping, turning to look towards the exit once more to ensure there was no looming danger in the distance.

As the three of them busied themselves with different tasks the child wandered up into the cave, patting one of the eggs that lined the cave, curious as to what it held. As he watched it open, curiosity getting the best of him he happened upon an unhatched baby spider, pulling it from the egg and quickly shoving it into his mouth, moving towards the next egg to do the same. The hunger getting the best of the child.

As Grogu began eating the spider eggs Asora’s focus on the exit of the cave shifted towards the child, her eyes widening at the sight of hm indulging in the spider larvae.

“No Grogu!” She scolded, rushing towards the child. She knew if he continued to feast on the eggs it was only a matter of time that they would begin to hatch and for their mother to come back.

As she began to rush towards the child the cave shook, the spiders beginning to hatch as she reached the green foundling.

“Mando, we’re in trouble.” She called back to him as she picked the child up, running him back towards the beskar clad man.

She handed him the child as she turned towards the quickly hatching array of spiders, moving her cloak to the side so she could unclip both of her sabers.

Asora ignited her two sabers as she turned towards the oncoming hoard of spiders, the purple and green blades gleaming as she pointed them down towards the ground, swinging in front of her as widely as she could to bat away any of the oncoming arachnids.

As she began fastening her pace, her blades whirring through the air quicker as the hoard began to run towards the group a deep growl echoed from the back of the cave, a large spider emerged, its frame large, its mouth opening to screech at them, its teeth gleaming as it towered over them.

“Go, go, go! Back to the ship! I’ll protect you!” Asora called back, the three of them making their way out of the cave as quickly as possible as Asora began to back up, swinging her sabers back and forth as she swiped the spiders away, eyeing the larger ones for a moment before she came up with a plan.

As the group made their way out Asora took care of the hoard behind them, using the force to push them back as much as possible, clending her fist at a group of them, crushing them with her force. She stepped back, jumping behind her towards the frog lady and the Mandalorian as they began setting off blaster shots, she pushed her way in front of them swiping her sabers side to side, hues of green and purple blurring their vision for a moment before she used the force to push the remainder of them back.

Asora moved to the side so the three could run ahead, pacing herself behind them as she continued to swipe at the spiders behind them hastily until they reached the exit.

By the time the group had reached the end of the cave, with the Razor Crest in view the Mandalorian had already exhausted a large majority of his fire power, rushing to get them out of their situation, helping Asora kill off as many as possible.

Asora stopped after them, turning her back towards the group as she stopped, her eyes closing as she held her hands out. Her sabers floating in front of her, out of her grip and into the empty space in front of her as she began to focus her mind.

“Dank Farrick, Asora.” Mando called back, blasting the spiders as they neared her, stopping feet in front of her his back turned to the crest as he tried to get her attention, to get her to keep moving. Whatever she was doing made her look like she had a death wish.

“I’m not leaving you behind! I can’t!” Mando pleaded, using his blaster to shoot off as many spiders as he could, Grogu’s fear and worry becoming more prominent as the hoard came far too close for comfort.

After a moment there was a large jolt, a shake, an immense amount of power shifted through the cave, pushing everything back, the Mandalorian and child just far enough away to not get hit by it, but to witness it.

It came from her, a shock wave of the force, pushing all living things back, stunning them. The once large hoard of spiders gone for a mere moment at Asora’s actions. She stood up from her kneeling position, grabbing her sabers from midair and turning back towards the Mandalorian, running towards him.

The two made their way back towards the ship as quickly as possible, Asora calling out to him as they made their way into the ship.

“Get the child to safety I will keep them away for as long as possible.” She instructed, turning back towards the hoard, the Mandalorian shook his head no, handing the child and the incubator to the frog lady in the ship, standing beside Asora as he began shooting at the hoard.

“I am not leaving you.” He insisted, as he went to shoot a spider spewed webbing onto him, sticking his hand and blaster onto the ship as Asora moved in front of him, her sabers whirring by her sides as she spun them, moving the rhythmically around her.

“Protect the child, I will be fine Mando.” Asora demanded, her gaze flickering back towards him for a moment before her gaze returned back towards the hoard of arachnids.

He nodded, making his way into the ship as quickly as possible, the sound of Asora’s sabers whirring in the background as he rushed into the hull, making his way up the ladder towards the cockpit.

By the time he had made it into the cockpit the faint noise of the hissing of the spiders was far too close for comfort, the frog lady, Grogu and him staring at the doors watching nervously. waiting for the Jedi to make their way in.

The Mandalorian’s gut churned, an unsure feeling filling the air as he watched the doors.

She’ll make it.

She has too.

After a few moments the doors fell open, Asora falling onto her back her saber's flinging back and forth as she pushed the spiders off of her.

She quickly stood and pushed her hands out throwing the crowd of spiders against the back wall as she closed the doors.

The Mandalorian let out a sigh of relief as she turned towards the group. her forehead was dripping with sweat, her chest heaving with every breath. The journey to the cockpit proved to be much more exhausting than she initially expected, she could only hope that MR above them on the outside of the ship was okay in all of the chaos.

“Told you I’d be fine.” Asora hummed as she disengaged her saber's, bringing her hand up to wipe the sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand before clipping her saber's back onto her belt.

“What if you weren’t.” Mando barked back, taking in her figure for a moment, looking for any sign of injury.

“I was. I can handle myself Mando, it would be smart for you to realize that.” Asora retorted, exhausted from the journey back.

Was now really an opportune time to bicker? He had nothing to be mad about anyways, she was just ensuring their safety.

“I don’t care what you think you can handle.” He barked back, moving towards his chair, booting the ship up to move.

Asora huffed loudly, as the ship began to rise she felt a short lived wave of relief, the wave was quickly snuffed out by the large spider landing on top of the hull of the ship, stabbing its sharp legs through the windshield of the cockpit and near both the Mandalorian and Asora.

The group jolted at the shift looking up at the mouth of the spider as it readied itself for its attack.

As it leaned back unknown blaster shots began to fire at the side of it, Asora’s eyes widened at the sudden shots of red that were fired at the arachnid. The spider soon felt limp to the shots, its body leaning onto the ship as its life force left it.

Asora turned, opening the doors to the cockpit and made her way down into the hull, the Mandalorian following behind, the two of them silent as they made their way through the webbed corridor and out into the cold again.

Asora ignited her master’s saber, the purple blade guiding their way out into the light of the two X-wings as their pilots continued to shoot at the last few spiders that nestled their way onto the Razor Crest.

There was silence as the two approached the pilots, both weapons raised, though once Asora recognized the New Republic pilots recognizing that their presence meant nothing but kindness she turned her saber off, the purple blade disappearing as she listened to them speak.

“We ran the tabs on the Razor Crest. You have an arrest warrant for the abduction of prisoner X-Six-Nine-Eleven. However, onboard security records show that you apprehended three priority culprits rom the Wanted Register.”

“Security records also show that you put your own life in harms way to try to protect that of Lieutenant Davan from the New Republic Correctional Corps.”

Mando lowered his blaster at the pilots statement, putting it back into its holster as he looked towards them, thinking to himself for a moment before the pilot continued.

“Is this true?”

“Am I under arrest?”

“Technically you should be. But these are trying times.”

Asora looked over towards the Mandalorian for a moment her gaze turning back toards the New Republic men as Mando began to speak again.

“What say I forego the bounties on these three criminals and you two help me fuse my hull so I can get off this frozen rock?” The Mandalorian bartered, Asora gawked at him, was he really trying to bargain with New Republic pilots?

“What say you fix that transponder, and we don’t vaporize that antique next time we patrol the Rim?”

As the Pilot finished Asora stepped forward, waving her hand as she spoke, focusing her mind on the Jedi trick she had become accustomed to using in these trying times.

“You will help us fix the ship.” She insisted, the man waited for a moment, she held her breath, hoping he would fall for the Jedi trick.

“We aren’t weak minded. We would be persuaded to help fix your ship if a Jedi like you joined our cause.” Asora sighed, turning towards the Mandalorian then back towards them.

“Maybe another time.” She called back, watching the two men ready their ships and leave, she turned to the Mandalorian and pouted.

“If they were a smidge more foolish that would’ve worked.” She insisted, turning towards the ship as she walked back.

“Whatever you say.” Mando teased, following her as they made their way back into the ship.

“Y’know what? You are the snippiest Manadalorian I have ever met.”

“I’m the only Mandalorian you’ve ever met.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨! 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫! 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐢'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐢 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤? 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞! 𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞! 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝!   
> 𝐩.𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬


	15. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finally lands on Trask, but the three find more than Mandalorians there.

After a long, strenuous night in the cold, fixing the Razor Crest to the best of their ability Asora, Mando and MR decided to call it a night. The hull cleared out enough that the spider carcasses wouldn’t be too much of an issue.

The frog lady and Grogu were already cuddled up against the wall of the hull, the small space heater facing the two of them as they slept, the ladies tank swaddled in a blanket beside them.

Asora sighed, looking over towards the Mandalorian as they entered the hull, the two of them very ready for bed.

“That’s the only heater you have?” She inquired, looking around the hull for another.

“Yeah, didn’t plan to get stuck on an ice planet.” He retorted, moving over towards Grogu situating himself beside him in front of the heater, Asora joined him, looking around for another blanket but coming up empty handed.

“How aren’t you cold?” she peered over, inspecting his very frosty armor, the beskar had a spiny layer of frost from the day’s work, the cold covering him from head to toe.

“Thermal layering, it's also slightly pressurized.” He informed, nodding over towards her as he inspected her attire, the two robes she had on covering the larger majority of her body, her robes and armor underneath lending another warm layer of clothes to her body.

“Oh. That’s actually quite smart.” Asora nodded, inspecting his beskar again for a moment before turning her eyes towards the heater, bringing her gloved hands to her face to blow into her hands, an attempt to warm both her hands and her face up.

“How did you do that thing earlier?” The Mandalorian inquired, his gaze lingering on her momentarily before switching towards the cooing child beside him.

“What thing?” Asora questioned, her head tilted in curiosity.

“You pushed everything back from you earlier, like that magic thing you do but… bigger, stronger.” He explained, using his hands to gesture to the ‘magic thing’.

Asora smiled over at him and nodded eagerly in response, that thing.

“I used the force, I called out to it, used it to propel everything back from me. It’s a powerful form of a force power, a telekinetic explosion.”

The Mandalorian nodded slowly at her words, unsure as to what ask next. Was she really that strong? That she could propel that many things away from her, at her own will.

Asora could shake the earth with her power and that idea, that concept shook the Mandalorian to his core.

“I didn’t know you were that strong.” He stated, looking over to her almost apologetically.

“I know.” Asora nodded, letting out a soft laugh at the Mandalorians statement, “We should spar sometime.” Mando chimed back, looking over towards her patiently, it would be interesting to see exactly how strong she was.

“I wouldn’t do that to your beskar if I were you.” Asora chirped back, looking over with a smug smile.

“My beskar’s seen worse.”

“I’m sure it has Mando.”

A moment of silence fell over them, their exhaustion settling in as the cold began to leave. The soft waves of heat form the heater giving the two of them the most comfort they have had all day.

“Mando?”

“What?”

He peered down at her, his helmet tipping down towards her head as she leaned over to ask him her question.

“What do you see, from your helmet? Is it the same as with your eyes?”

The Mandalorian shook his head at her question, “no, it’s a dark macrobinocular. There are different vision modes though.” He informed pointing up towards his helmet gesturing to his eyes.

“That’s fascinating, I always wanted a helmet but I haven’t got the mentality for one.”

“You’d look good in one.” Mando responded, his voice low and quiet as he spoke, Asora smiled cheerfully at the comment, “Don’t think I’d be able to see a thing.”

Mando nodded, leaning towards her, the two of them leaning closely against the wall. His mind wandered to her, the idea of her in the helm of his people, to see her in it. The thought of her like that tied his stomach up in knots.

“What color are your eyes?’ Asora questioned, looking towards him with curious eyes, her head tilted to the side slightly as she waited for a response.

“Why?’ the Mandalorian asked, an uncomfortable tension settling among them, why did that matter to her?

“Just curious. Feel no pressure to answer if you do not feel comfortable.”

a long silence filled the hull, the Mandalorian pondering his choices, if there were any consequences of telling her. After a moment he agreed to tell her, he had learned so much from her, it was only fair if he told her what he could of himself.

“Brown.”

She gleamed in response, sending the Mandalorian a toothy smile in response to his statement.

“I knew it.”

He let out a soft huff, shaking his head in response.

“You think of my eyes?” He asked, peering over towards her curiously, a slight red hue rose to her cheeks and she let out an awkward cough and shrugged.

“Well, I guess… I just wanted to know who I was protecting, who I was spending time with, who you are under all the beskar.” She responded, her voice soft and sweet as she spoke. She refused to let herself believe that it was anything more than wanting to know who she had to work with, who she had to protect. But something about the lingering feeling in her heart, in the pit of her stomach told her otherwise.

“You want to know me?” he asked, his raspy voice thick with shock, why did she care so much about him? She couldn’t truly care that much could she?

“Of course.”

After another moment of silence she whispered over to the Mandalorian, her eyes droopy with sleep as she leaned over.

“Do you know Mando’a?”

“Yes, why?”

He looked over towards her, her sleepy figure leaning over towards him as her droopy eyes made eye contact with his.

“What’s my name in Mando’a?” she asked, leaning her head against the wall as she awaited an answer, a small patient smile crawling up onto her lips as she waited.

He looked at her for a moment, taking in her profile, her soft sleepy features. Even worn out and exhausted she was beautiful, the cold complimenting her nicely.

“Cyar’ika.” He responded, the word leaving his lips long before he could even properly register what he said. He sucked in a deep breath at the realization, ready to punch himself at the statement.

He was in far too deep, and he refused to admit it to himself.

They were just friends. No attachments.

“Cyar’ika.” She whispered back, a smile playing on her lips as she drifted asleep at the sound of her own words.

The Mandalorian let out a soft sigh as he watched her fall asleep.

“Goodnight, cyar'ika.”

The following morning Asora rose bright and early, occupying herself with some early meditation before she continued to work on a few of the ships issues.

During her meditation she pondered her relationship with the Mandalorian, reminding herself that it could mean nothing more than a friendship, a helping hand in her quest. If she let an attachment like this get the best of her, it would destroy her. It would destroy everything she had been working towards.

After she had come to terms with her attachment, and her emotions she focused on fixing a few parts of the hull and by the time the Mandalorian had woken up, the ship was ready to leave, even though it wasn’t in the best condition, it was flyable.

The rest of the day was trivial. Flying sublight to Trask proved to be much more of a trip than anticipated, Asora’s excitement filling her as their destination came into view. However, the excitement proved to be short lived, once the ship began to enter the atmosphere of the planet alarms began to go off.

“Asora come here! I need your hands.” The Mandalorian directed, as she began to pull up on the gears, Asora stood up quickly and placed the small green child onto her seat as she moved to help Mando.

“This lever needs to stay back.” Asora nodded eagerly grabbing it with her two hands and pulling back as hard as she could.

“Keep it steady. Here we go.”

The two gripped the controls worriedly as they plummeted down through the planet’s clouds.

“Razor Crest, this is Trask flight control. Please reduce your speed to port protocol.”

“We’re trying our best here. Engage reverse thrusters. Brace.” The Mandalorian called back as he grunted, trying his hardest to slow the huge flaming hunk of junk down.

Asora stumbled her way back towards her seat, putting the seatbelt on as she adjusted her grip on Grogu. The three of them braced themselves for the landing as flight control directions rung through the cockpit.

“Razor Crest, do you copy? You have to reduce speed.”

“Almost there, Almost there.”

Asora let out a small groan as she held onto the wall to stabilize herself, Grogu in her lap letting out a little gurgle of excitement.

“Razor Crest, do you copy? Razor Crest, you’re coming in too fast. You have to re…”

Before the flight director had a moment to continue the Crest boosted itself back slowing its speed down, readying itself for a somewhat okay landing on the pad below it.

“Here we go. Nice and easy.” The Mandalorian cooed, encouraging the ship as he began landing. However, just above the landing pad the engine blew, tipping the ship over towards the side and submerging itself in the ocean beside the landing pad.

As the ship shifted towards the side MR slide into the wall in front of it, letting out a loud beepy yell as it fell into the wall.

It didn’t take long for the ship to be pulled out of the water and hauled onto the pad manually, once they had landed Asora turned towards MR, “You okay buddy?” MR cheerfully beeped in response and Asora nodded eagerly patting it on the head reassuringly.

“You should stay here and help the engineers with the ship, when we get back I’ll oil you up, looks like the frost did a number on you.” She informed, giving the side of the droid a good rub before she moved towards her bag beside the droid.

She clipped the two saber's onto her belt and took off her cloak, happy to be in a slightly warmer climate than the previous.

The group left hastily the frog lady glancing around the crowd nervously for her husband. Asora watched the lady as the Mandalorian interacted with the dock worker, peering around the area waiting for the frog lady’s husband to arrive.

Grogu followed behind the Mandalorian, Asora and the frog lady as they began walking away from the dock. The three followed the woman as she called out, looking around the area for her partner. After a few moments he called back, the woman ran towards him happily, the two sharing a loving embrace as they met each other.

“That is just darling.” Asora whispered over towards the Mandalorian, pointing her finger towards the two, a sappy grin on her lips as she watched the two embrace lovingly.

The Mandalorian only nodded in agreement, before turning away for a moment.

After a few minutes of the two embracing each other the husband moved up and grabbed the Mandalorian’s arm and shook it eagerly.

“You’re welcome… I was told you could lead me to others of my kind.”

The frog man nodded and pointed across the dock in the general direction of an inn.

“The inn? Over there?”

Asora looked around the area, both her and the Mandalorian noticing the cloaked woman in the distance, her hood up, as people passed, she disappeared. Asora gave the Mandalorian a confused look before returning her gaze towards the two frog people.

The three followed them towards the inn, thanked them for their guidance and found themselves situated around a small table.

“What can I get you?” a Mon Calamari man asked, the Mandalorian looking at him then towards the child.

“Nothing for me, a bowl of chowder for my friend.” He asked, Asora’s eyes flickered from the man towards the Mandalorian patiently waiting for a response.

“These seats are scarce, everyone seated needs to eat.”

“I can buy something else.” The Mandalorian bribed as he slid a few credits across the table at the Mon Calamari man as he continued “Information.”

“Have you seen others that look like me?” Mando asked as he looked over towards the man,

Asora perched her elbows up onto the table, placing her chin in between her palms as she observed the two.

“Others with beskar have been though here.”

“Who can take me to them?”

“I know someone who might help.” The Mon Calamari man responded, as he spoke Asora’s eyes drifted towards the exit, watching as people walked by on the dock.

As she watched she hummed to herself, completely zoning out, then she saw him. She sucked in air, her eyes widening for a moment. It couldn’t be.

She quickly stood up, looking over towards the Mandalorian, “I’ll be back.” She stated, not waiting another moment before she made her way out the door and after him.

“Hey! You there!...Hey! Stop!” she called out, picking up her pace as she followed him. She reached her hand out and grabbed his arm, and he turned to meet her his eyes widening at the sight of her.

“Asora?” he asked, the two of them gawking at each other as they stood still.

“Elias?” The man let out a loud laugh nodding eagerly as he extended his arms, pulling his childhood friend in for a hug.

“What’re you doing here? How are you?” he questioned, giving her a tight squeeze before pulling away from the hug, sending her a toothy grin as he waited for her response.

“I came with a Mandalorian, I’m on a quest.” She informed giving him a toothy smile back as she took in his appearance. He was nothing like she remembered him but yet exactly how she imagined he would be. He was scruffy, his dark hair tousled, and he had facial hair, not too thick but enough to sharpen his features. His rugged appearance complimenting his stormy blue eyes, this age, it suited him.

“A Mandalorian huh? Odd company for a Jedi.” He joked as he took in her appearance, though it hadn’t been centuries, Asora had changed since she was a Padawan, her intricate hairstyle being the only remaining factor of her youth, everything else had grown beautifully with age.

“Better company than some.” She joked, poking her elbow in his side as he laughed.

“This is the treatment I get? From a dear old friend?” Elias joked, feigning hurt as he looked over towards the laughing woman.

“Old friend? i’m quite young you know.” She retorted, the two-swaying side to side with giddiness, she turned, ready to walk him back towards the Inn.

“Not that young, speaking of old, where’s Master Windu?” Elias questioned, peering around the market curiously before returning his gaze to Asora.

Asora sent him a sad smile, “He passed, he lives on in the force now.”

Elias’ face fell, he nodded, rubbing Asora’s arm caringly as he let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry.” Asora nodded and smiled up at him, trying not to dwell on the past.

“I’m a soon to be Master.” She informed, changing subjects, the gloomy conversation tiring her emotions.

“Really? I think I liked you better as a Padawan.” Elias chimed, looking over towards her with a cheeky smile.

“And I liked you better as a mechanic, not a fisherman.” Elias huffed in response and let out a chuckle.

“New Republic pilot actually, mechanic when I can be, fisherman on the odd occasion.” Asora’s eyes widened at the statement, the two of them beginning to walk towards the Inn their legs leading them absentmindedly as their conversation continued.

“New Republic? Since when?”

“I joined at the height of the rebellion, figured it’d be cool to stick around but I recently left to have some time off here.” He informed, the two of them reaching the Inn where the Mandalorian and Grogu were eating in.

“Oh?” her voice filled with surprise, she looked over towards him her eyebrow quirked with curiosity.

“I only joined a few years after I left, the imperials took out a village I was living in, I thought of what you would do and I just joined, on a whim, it just felt right y’know?” Elias explained, Asora nodding eagerly in response, she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the inn.

“I’m glad, better a pilot than a smuggler like you wanted to be when you were 12.” She joked, looking back at him for a moment as they began to enter the inn.

“The Mandalorian is over here I want you to meet him and his foundling.”

Elias nodded eagerly as he let her lead him towards the table where they sat. Once she reached it the Mandalorian looked over towards her in surprise, Grogu cooing at the sight of Asora’s return.

“Elias, this is Mando and Grogu. Mando and Grogu this is Elias.” She introduced, sitting down after the introductions, Elias sitting with her eagerly a wide smile playing on his lips as he extended his hand out towards the Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian looked down at his hand then towards Asora, “Who is he?” Elias pulled his hand back at the statement, looking down towards the green child curiously, sending it a small wave as he watched Asora and the Mandalorian interact.

“This is the childhood friend I told you about, Elias.” She informed gesturing towards the man.

The Mandalorian tensed up, his muscles stiffening at the statement. His heart dropping at her words, his throat growing dry as he looked over towards the man, the one who was able to win her attachment.

Elias?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨! 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫! 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝟒𝐚𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐢'𝐦 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐧𝐨𝐭!   
> 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐢 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡!!


	16. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mandalorian, Asora and Grogu find themselves in some risky water when they go to find the group of Mandalorians they have been searching for. Who will be there to save them in their time of need?

****T**** he air was thick with tension, Elias smiling awkwardly at the Mandalorian as he stared him down for a moment. no one said anything. The only sound coming from the table were Grogu’s soft coos of amusement as he watched the three navigate the awkward situation.

“We have a lead on the Mandalorians, we have to go to docks and meet the contact. He will bring us to them.” The Mandalorian informed sternly, his voice booming with intimidation as he leaned over to look at Asora, sparing the man beside her a short glance.

“That’s wonderful! When will we be leaving?” Asora inquired, smiling cheerfully over towards the Mandalorian, slightly oblivious to his change in demeanour.

He stared her down for a moment her cheery attitude sneaking under his skin. He let out an inaudible sigh, so quiet even his modulator couldn't pick it up. Was she so naive that she couldn't notice his distaste for the man beside her?

Silence danced around the table for a moment as the Mandalorian brooded quietly before Elias spoke.

“What’re you doin’ looking for more Mandalorians? One wasn’t enough for you?” He sassed, turning over toward’s the Jedi with his eyebrow arched in curiosity.

“Mando has been quested to find more of his kind and the child's.”

“Like the missions Windu had you goin' on when you were a Padawan?”

“Precisely.”

Elias’ curiosity was getting the better of the Mandalorians temper, watching the two interact made him want to blow his top off. There was something about him that rubbed him completely the wrong way, maybe it was the fact that he was so close, so friendly with Asora. Or maybe it was the New Republic patch on his jacket.

Either way, to Mando, Elias was bad news.

“We are leaving now.” The Mandalorian announced as he stood, pulling his shoulders back as he turned towards the two, trying to come off as towering and intimidating as possible towards the man beside her.

“Okay, I’ll finish up with Elias and meet with you shortly.” Asora nodded, turning towards Elias, engaging herself into a conversation with him as the two left.

Once the Mandalorian situated himself outside the Inn he found himself frustrated and impatient, peering into the Inn every few seconds, anxious for the girl to join them so the three of them could embark on their new journey.

Cold air whipped around the two as the Mandalorian began to tap his foot impatiently, eyes flickering between the child and the door every other second. What could the two possibly have to talk about that would take _this_ long?

His eyebrows pinched together in frustration as he began thinking over all the possible topics of conversation for the two to explore, the thought of them talking themselves to sleep the way theydo made its way across his mind. For them to talk the way he and her do, made him feel uncomfortable and jealous, almost angry at the idea.

But that was something he wasn’t ready to admit to himself. He can’t have himself acting like a love-struck youngling just because this Jedi was pretty, just because she talked sweet to him. After all she talked sweet to everyone, he _wasn’t_ someone special to her, and he had to realize that.

“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long Mando.” Asora asked as she approached the two, leaving the inn with a small wave behind her, a childish grin on her lips as she looked up at him, meeting his eye line.

The Mandalorian stiffly shook his head in disagreement, moving past her towards the dock where the contact was without another word.

The two made their way across the docks quickly, their interaction with the contact was straightforward, the three of them settling onto the ship as swiftly as possible. They stood at the edge of the ship looking off at the water quietly as the workers around them busied themselves with their fishermen duties.

“I don’t like him.” The Mandalorian stated, his helmet facing forward to avoid the confrontation of the conversation he was beginning.

“You don’t say?’ Asora joked lightly, giving him a soft half smile as she looked over towards him for a moment, her eyes returning to the sea as she spoke.

“Why don’t you?”

“I just don’t.”

Asora nodded at the comment, her gaze still completely fixated on the ocean in front of her as she thought of a response, the wind blowing past the two harshly.

There wasn’t a reason for him not to like Elias, but at this point, from what she knew of Mando he usually had his own reasons for not liking someone. Whether he’d like to talk about it or not, his reasons were usually founded.

“I understand.”

“How could you? You love him.” The Mandalorian barked back, turning his helmet to look at her, gauging her reaction. Did she still have an attachment? did she still care?

“Of course, I do. Elias’ is like a _brother_ to me, but as easily as I can love him, I can let him go... If attachment is your worry, concern yourself elsewhere.”

The Mandalorian shook his head at her words, confused to say the least. How could she love someone and yet be so willing to let them go, was she that heartless? Did she care so little?

“Fine.” He breathed out, the comment coming out harsher than he intended, leaving the conversation sore, and unfinished.

"Good."

“You ever see a mamacore eat?.. Quite a sight.”

The three of them glanced over towards the Quarren fisherman, the group quiet at his statement, neither of them particularly keen on the idea.

“You should take a look. Come on over here. Get a good view. Let the kid see.” The three hesitantly moved towards the gate below them, standing at the edge of the opening to get a good view of the mamacore.

“All right, close enough.” Mando urged as he held his hand out towards Grogu, stopping him before he got too close to the danger below them.

Asora gave a few glances around the boat, her eyes travelling over the workers and the Quarren man to the left of her. Her hands moved closer to the sabers that sandwiched her hips as she moved forward as a safety precaution. 

She was not particularly fond of the company they had acquired in order to find the Mandalorians they were searching for. Something about the group was off, the energy on the ship made her slightly uncomfortable.

She watched as the gate below opened, the fishing net moving above it, opening to drop dozens of fish into the open pool of water. As quickly as the fish dropped into the pool it began bubbling, streams of commotion under the water signaling towards the creatures oncoming entrance.

“She must be hungry. Oftentimes we’ll feed her in the early morning, but we missed that ‘cause we were goin’ out of port!” As the man finished his sentence he used his staff to slap the child’s floating crib into the open water below them. Asora jolted at the movement leaning over to watch as the monster below rose up and opened its mouth. Hundreds of teeth revealed themselves, enveloping the crib as it closed, bringing it down underwater.

Without a second thought Asora moved her hands above her head and pushed herself forward, diving into the water, into the danger below to save the child.

“No!” The Mandalorian called out as he moved with her, jumping into the pool, the two of them diving below as the child quickly disappeared from sight.

After a moment of diving below, swimming towards the monster to no avail Asora came up for air, rising beside the Mandalorian the two pushing roughly against the gate above them. The two were trapped. The fishermen around them stabbing into the water around them in a few haphazard attempts of forcing them down below to drown. 

She gasped loudly, holding onto the bars above her with one hand, unclipping her saber below the water with the other. She raised the saber above the water and pressed the button on the side igniting the green blade, dragging it against the bars above her as Mando heaved for air, and began struggling against the water beside her.

As she began dragging her lightsaber through the bars above her the fishermen began stabbing their blades down through the bars at her, a few of them slicing through her arm and shoulders, leaving large gashes for her to deal with later as she moved. Once she cut out a big enough gap she pushed the opening up and off. Asora shimmied her way through the hole frantically as a squad of Mandalorians flew down onto the ship.

A squad of Mandalorians clad in vibrant blue armor landed around the group, attacking the fishermen with brute force. Asora glanced around worriedly, her saber still ignited as she moved towards the control panel, as she moved herself up and over towards it she engaged herself in a fight with two fishermen. 

Asora used the force to push one of the men back, slamming him into the railing behind him, the impact knocking him out instantly. She swung her saber around her, covering her key points as she moved towards the man, sliding the saber over his arm, slicing if off and using her foot to kick him back as she made her way to the control panel, deactivating the gate below and freeing the caged Mandalorian.

As she pulled the gate back another Mandalorian crouched in front of the opening, holding out her hand for the struggling Mandalorian to take. Once he took it and she pulled him up and out of the water Asora lunged back into the water, pushing herself below the water as quickly as possible. She opened eyes under the salty water, looking for, holding her hand out to reach for the child with the force.

She felt him pull back and upon seeing the creature she took her two sabers out, igniting them as she reached the creature, slicing it open as quickly as possible. Bright hues of purple and green lit up beneath the water as she continued to swing her sabers back and fourth into the creature, its muffled cries echoing in the water as she struck it down.

She used the force to pull Grogu’s crib from the inside of it, disengaging her sabers and clipping them onto her belt as she reached out and grabbed the crib. 

Once she grabbed the crib she spun around, and pushed down kicking off of the deceased creature, using the momentum to propel herself up and out of the water and onto the edge of the pool.

She let out a large breath as she landed, heaving as she walked towards the Mandalorian the crib in hand, placing it beside the Mandalorian as she stood in front of him. Her hands moved from the sides of the crib to the front, yanking the front side part of the crib off to take the child out to hand him to the Mandalorian.

Once she handed the child over after inspecting him, as the Mandalorian checked the child for injuries Asora moved her hands to her legs, leaning over and catching her breath, her exhaustion taking over her body for a moment.

“Is he okay?” She inquired, her eyes glued to the ground as she breathed, her concentration focused on grounding her exhaustion and regaining her energy.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure.” She mumbled as she let out a soft laugh and moved to sit beside him, wiping the sweat and water off her forehead for a moment before she looked up towards the group of Mandalorians in front of them.

“We've been searching for more of your kind.” Asora informed, glancing over the group for a moment as she spoke before returning her gaze to the ground as she caught her breath. 

“Well, lucky we found you first.”

“I’ve been quested to deliver this child I was hoping that…”

Before Mando could continue the group of Mandalorians began taking their helmets off, to properly and fully converse with him. Mando moved his head back in astonishment, Asora widened her eyes at the act, the two completely amazed by the group of Mandalorians actions.

It seemed as if this was a reoccurring event, to happen upon a Mandalorian only to find out that not all of them wore their helmets so strictly or that they were thieves who stole the armour. It was upsetting to say the least.

Whatever was going on was incredibly confusing to Asora. A religion, a way of life that seemed more confusing than a Jedi’s.

“Where did you get that armour?” The Mandalorian inquired as he stood, confronting the group, under the assumption that they couldn’t be real Mandalorians if they took their helmets off.

Asora stayed behind, sitting still. As she caught her breath the aching in her shoulders and arms became more prevalent, she moved her arms in front of her to inspect them to find a few gashes oozing blood, there was one on her left forearm and two on her right bicep, the other on her shoulder though she couldn’t see it felt as if it was the deepest one.

She sighed to herself as she began looking over the cuts as they bled out onto her armour and robes. This was not how she imagined the day was going to go. 

After analyzing them for a moment she decided to dismiss them for the time being, she could deal with them later. None of them had appeared to be life threatening.

She joined the Mandalorian in his conversation with the group of Mandalorians, having previously tuned them out to take in her wounds.

“I am Bo-Katan of Clan Kryze. I was born on Mandalore and fought in the Purge. I am the last of my line. And you are a Child of the Watch.” The redhead informed, stepping forward towards Mando to explain.

“The Watch?”

“Children of the Watch are a religious cult of religious zealots that broke away from Mandalorian society. Their goal was to re-establish the ancient way.”

“There is only one way. The way of the Mandalore.” Mando argued. 

The conversation was done, or at least for Mando it was as he turned leaving the group to their own devices as he grabbed Asora’s arm and pulled her along with him as he moved towards the bow of the ship. He moved his hand from her arm to her hip and pulled her close, igniting his jetpack as he did so. Escorting both Asora and Grogu away from the group of Mandalorians.

“Mando, a little warning next time?” Asora huffed as she held onto his shoulder, the cold beskar welcoming her touch as she clutched onto him.

He grumbled quietly as he looked over towards her, his response wordless as he led the two of them to the dock they had left earlier. 

Once he dropped onto it he held onto Asora for a moment, grounding himself and swaying into her as his feet hit the ground. She leaned into him and moved her hand onto his chest to brace herself, using him to center her gravity as the two swayed together momentarily.

The two sat in that embrace for a moment, his helmet tilted down at her and her head leaning up towards him, the two making eye contact through his helmet, the two sharing a moment of care and confliction. The moment was cut short with Grogu cooing softly at the two of them, resulting in both of them letting each other go and stepping back from each other’s embrace.

“You’re hurt.” He mumbled as he looked down at her, the blood flowing from beneath her armor, staining her robes a dark red. Worry began to fill his eyes as he surveyed her body for cuts and bruises.

Her robes covered anything actually visible but the tinge of red that seeped through from her cuts made her injuries incredibly visible.

Asora nodded at his statement, “I know.”

The Mandalorian grabbed her wrist, pulling her arm towards him and moved to take the armour on her arm off, she raised her other hand and placed it onto his gloved one.

“You need not to worry about me Mando, I can handle myself.” Her voice was soft, and exhausted, trying her hardest to assure the beskar clad man that she was in tip top shape. The worry and fear radiating off of him as he investigated her injuries.

“I don’t care.” He huffed back, leaning down towards her, almost as if he was trying to intimidate her into letting him patch her up.

“We have more important things to attend to than a couple of scratches.”

“Those aren’t scratches.”

Asora sighed loudly, her gaze moving from the Mandalorian towards Grogu. He too shared the same worried expression as his dad, he looked over towards Asora curiously, his ears drooping slightly at the sight of Asora so wounded.

“It’s getting dark now, you can worry about my injuries when we’re home.”

The Mandalorian huffed and nodded, looking back at her as he began to move to leave.

“Fine.”

The two made their way back, the darkness enveloping the docks slowly as they began their journey back. They weaved their way through the alleys briskly, the mandalorian leading them back towards their ship as quickly as possible. However, their journey back took a turn when they found themselves cornered by a group of Quarren men.

The group stepped out of the darkness, surrounding the three as they readied their blasters, aiming the deadly weapons at the three.

“Hey! You. You killed my brother.”

“Let us pass.”

“I don’t think you understand. You killed my brother, now I’m gonna kill your pet and your girl.” He barked back as he raised his blaster, gesturing towards the two as he spoke.

Asora rolled her eyes, moving her hands up towards her sabers, unclipping them both and pressing the buttons in unison, the green and purple blades pointing out at the ground as she turn towards the Quarren men.

As Asora began pulling out her sabers the group of three Mandalorian from earlier fly down, landing around Asora, Mando and Gorgu.

“He didn’t kill your brother. I did.” Bo-Katan called back as she stepped forward, everyone around them pulling out their blasters to shoot the Quarren men around them as Bo-Katan finished speaking.

Asora swung her sabers around her, deflecting a few of their shots back towards their owners as the fight finished, however the blades were blinking and shorting out. To her dismay the blades quivering and steaming as she swung them, creating an unsafe environment to have them ignited. As a result of this reaction from her sabers she retracted both of her blades and clipped them onto her belt upon their malfunctions, turning her head to listen as Bo-Katan began to speak to Mando.

“Can we at least buy you a drink?”

The Mandalorians made their way towards a nearby bar after Mando agreed to their offer, him and Asora trailing behind as the group led them towards their destination.

“I believe my sabers have been damaged from the water.” Asora whispered as she leaned over towards Mando as the two walked, he nodded in response then looked down towards her hips for a moment.

“How is that possible?”

Asora sighed and looked down at her two sabers for a moment then back towards him.

“I didn’t modify them for underwater use, you need a bicurcating cyclical-ignition pulse. I didn’t make that modification and my master’s saber doesn’t have that modification either.” She informed, looking down at her two sabers with a sigh, she’d have them give them a good clean and one over to fix any of the water damages.

"Can you fix that?" 

"Yes, but I may need your help." She explained, though she didn't want to tell him in the moment, she would likely need his help acquiring more kyber crystal's to make the improvements to her sabers that she needed. 

"Whatever you need, it's yours." Mando agreed, looking over to her for a few seconds as they walked, Grogu cooing and giggling in his arms as he took in her side profile. 

"Thank you." Asora nodded, looking over towards the Mandalorian, offering him a soft thankful smile in response. 

Shortly after their conversation died down the group arrived at the bar, getting themselves a table and situating themselves and ordering before their conversation began. 

Asora took this as an opportunity to relax, sipping on her water as she tried not to listen in on the Mandalorians conversation. Asora felt as if she was overstepping by listening in on the conversation, so instead she was having her own conversation with Grogu telepathically. The two communicating quietly as the Mandalorians talked business.

“Our enemies wanna separate us. But Mandalorians are stronger together.”

“That’s not part of my plan. I’ve been quested with returning this child to the Jedi.” Mando explained, Bo-Katan’s eyes flickered between the child and Asora in confusion.

“Have you not already finished your quest then?” She questioned as she gestured towards Asora.

“Things are not as they appear. I cannot train the child, not until I finish my own quest. If it were that easy he would not have been seeking your help.” Asora explained, her eyes flickering up from Grogu towards Bo-Katan.

“What do you know of the Jedi?” Bo-Katan inquired, changing her focus from Asora towards Mando.

“Nothing. Only what Asora has told me of the Jedi Order, I was hoping you would help me by Creed.”

Asora had a lingering feeling that Bo-Katan wasn’t particularly fond of the Jedi, likely for her own reasons but it left Asora feeling uneasy.

“I can lead you to another of their kind.” Bo-Katan agreed, “but first, we need your help on our mission.”

“Mission?” 

The Mandalorians explained the mission, and gave him instructions to meet them on top of his ship so they could explain the details of their mission further.

The Mandalorian and Asora stopped outside of the bar to discuss what to do next. Once they stoped Asora moved to take the child from the Mandalorians arms, offering Mando a friendly smile as she took the foundling from his father.

“I will stay with the child; you need to go.”

“I still need to patch you up and- and there’s nowhere for you two to go.”

“You don’t need too, and we can go to Elias’ his roommate is a medic for the New Republic.” Asora explained, looking up at him with hopeful eyes, trying to explain that he had no reason to worry for either of them.

“Fine… I want you to be respectful and mind your manners.” He instructed Grogu, pointing a finger at him as he explained, his eyes moving from the child to Asora.

The Mandalorians movements were reluctant, though he needed to he did not want to leave the two of them. 

“Go, those Imps won’t be waiting there forever.” She shooed as she rocked Grogu in her arms, waving goodbye to the Mandalorian as she turned and made her way towards Elias’ house.

The night passed quite quickly, the child was growing quite fond of both Elias and his Twi’lek roommate Sok’geto as the two interacted with him excitedly, offering him various snacks throughout the night. As Elias fed and kept the child company Sok helped Asora with her injuries, quickly cleaning her wounds and applying bacta to her injuries as they chatted absentmindedly.

By the time the Mandalorian had come back the group was as chipper as ever. Asora was just finishing gushing over her recent journeys with the Mandalorian, Grogu cooing and giggling in response to the playful stories.

“You two seem like quite the team.” Elias noted as he turned to her, handing her a cup of tea as the four sat around a table in the engaging conversation.

“Yes I suppose so. It's odd, he is nothing like I thought Mandalorians would be.”

“Obviously, if he’s caught your affections, he must be more interesting than what I’ve seen.” Elias chirped back to her, sending her a little smirk as he spoke.

“He-He has not caught my affections, Mando is merely a travel companion. A platonic friend.” Asora sputtered out, shocked by his insinuation. Elias if anything should know her trainings, her opinions on attachments of _those_ variety.

“I can’t have attachments anyways, it’s dangerous.”

Elias nodded at her comment, looking over towards Grogu then back to her to speak again.

“Whatever you say, but I think the mumbo jumbo Windu taught you is wrong.”

“Well, I know that. You were just around for the cool lightsaber tricks.” Asora teased, poking him in the side as she spoke. Though she was letting humor fill the tense moment she had, she couldn’t help but wonder if Elias was right. Even though to her there could be no possible way Windu was wrong in his teachings, what if Elias had a point? What if, in another world, what Windu taught her was wrong? That question alone made Asora's stomach drop, made her palms sweaty. It was far too much of a complex question or idea for her to wrap her mind around. He _couldn't_ have been wrong. 

Before she could open her mouth to say another word on the topic there was a rough knock on the door.

“Speak of the devil.” Sok joked as Elias sauntered over, opening the door enthusiastically to the expressionless Mandalorian.

“Where are they?” The Mandalorian asked, as he peered into the house to look for the two he had left behind for his mission, eager to see them.

Once he met Asora’s eyes and saw Grogu in her arms he let out a soft sight of relief, pushing himself past Elias towards the two of them.

“Thank you for taking care of them.”

The Mandalorian’s voice was almost sweet as he moved to pick up the child, glancing around towards the Twi’lek man and Elias, nodding at the them as he held his foundling in his arms, his eyes shifting from them to Asora, taking in her figure to ensure someone took care of her wounds.

“Oh it was our pleasure.” Elias joked, sending a smirk over towards Asora as he turned towards them, the Mandalorian nodded at his statement and looked over towards Asora patiently.

“Ready to go?”

Asora nodded eagerly and stood up with him, looking over Sok and Elias, moving over to give them hugs before she left.

“Thank you for taking us in.”

“We wouldn’t have had it any other way.” Sok urged, giving her a pat on the back as they pulled away from the hug, offering her the friendliest of smiles.

“Til we meet again.”

The two nodded at her eagerly as the three of them exited the room, “May the force be with you.” Elias called back to her, his statement causing Asora to smile and nod in agreement.

“And with you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐨!! 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐳𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬! 𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫!!
> 
> 𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐢 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤!
> 
> 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬! 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 :))


	17. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐥

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group makes their way through space while managing their repairs on the Razor Crest, tricky wires and hesitant moments leave the group feeling awkward upon their arrival to Nevarro

The three made their way back towards the Razor Crest quietly, not a lot was said between the two as they brewed on their thoughts.

The Mandalorian’s mind was preoccupied on his previous mission, and Bo-Katan’s direction to find Ahsoka Tano in Calodan on Corvus. He wondered if Asora had known of her, if possibly they’ve met. All Jedi seemed to know about each other somehow, or at least to him that’s what it seemed like.

Asora pondered what her friend had said earlier, the hints of confusion in her urging her to meditate. To take some time away from this group and to figure her own emotions out.

But that didn’t seem accessible, at least not in the near future to Asora.

“So where are we going Mando?” Asora chimed as she looked over towards him, the two of them situated on the chairs in the cockpit, silence filling the room as she waited for a response.

“Corvus, but we wont make it there with the Crest in this shape so first we are stopping on Nevarro first.”

Asora nodded at the comment, her mind wandering to Greef Karga with the mention of Nevarro, was her ship ready by now? Would she be able to finally continue with her quest?

She felt a pit of guilt fill her stomach as her mind wandered to the thought of leaving, while she had a quest to complete and above all else that was her priority it seemed like priorities or not. It was going to be hard to leave the two, she had grown fond of them, and she hoped them of her.

“The Jedi is on Corvus?” Asora questioned, her eyebrows pinched together in confusion, what would they be doing on Corvus?

“Yes...Their name is Ahsoka Tano, do you know her?” Mando inquired as he turned his helmet towards her, his hands moving and flicking different switches on absentmindedly as he multitasked navigating and talking.

Asora went quiet for a moment, Ahsoka Tano.

She hadn’t heard the name since she was a Padawan, her master only talking of her in a few rare instances, but if her memory rang true, she knew he felt indifference towards Ahsoka, not speaking much of her but detailing the trails she underwent under the misconduct of the Order.

“Yes, but I know very little. My master wasn’t fond of detailing people of his past, however from what I do know she was a formidable Jedi Knight.” She informed as she leaned forward crossing her arms as she looked towards Mando for a response.

“Good.” Mando acknowledged, turning his head back to face the navigation system as he began to put in the coordinates.

MR beeped behind them, signaling its presence cheerily as silence filled the cockpit, Grogu cooing in his chair beside the droid, holding his small hand up to touch him as a response towards the beeping.

“Now that MR is up here, would MR be allowed to help you navigate and manage the ship or do you still not like him?” Asora asked, pointing her finger to the side to gesture at the droid as she spoke to the beskar clad man.

“Fine. He crashes the ship or messes the coordinates up you’re gonna have to clean up the scrap pile that’ll be left of him.” Mando bargained, pointing back towards the droid then to her, waiting for her to agree.

“Fine by me.” Asora shrugged, giving the droid a happy smile as it chirped in response, moving itself towards the nav system to begin helping the Mandalorian with his pilot duties.

After a while Asora left to go down into the hull to meditate as the Mandalorian dealt with some wiring issues.

She couldn’t hear what was going on above her, or around her. She had herself quite focused, blocking everything out, focusing on the energy field around her. She felt at peace, the calmest she had felt in days, it was like a wave of relief washed over her, engulfing her in comfort and pulling the confliction, the attachments and the emotions away.

She felt entirely refreshed, the meditation proving to bring her back to her clam and assured self. Until she felt it. She felt the child’s pain, it was quick, the fear and pain leavig the child as quickly as it came but it was enough for her to jolt up and out of her sitting position and rush towards him. Worry filled her as she made her way up towards the cockpit, whatever he was doing he was not safe.

“Grogu?” She called up as she began pulling herself up the ladder into the cockpit, Mando chiming back.

“Everything’s fine!”

As she pulled herself up and into the cockpit, she saw it, the smoke floating around the Mandalorian’s frame, his hands waving around in an attempt to dissipate it before she had a chance to see.

He turned to her in surprise, leaning himself against the wall casually in an attempt to display to her that nothing was going on, as if the kid didn’t just electrocute himself.

“What did you do?... Where is Grogu?”

Before the Mandalorian had a chance to answer Grogu let out a small cough from the vent he was in, the smoke from the electrocution still hovering around him in the vent, making it harder to breath.

Asora moved towards the vent, leaning up on her tippy toes to peer in as she pushed the beskar man aside.

She gasped at the sight of the child holding the two wires in his hands, “You bucketbrain, are you delusional? Are you really trying to get a child to fix the wiring on your ship? Are you a fool?” She barked out, turning towards the Mandalorian as she began pointing her finger at him in disappointment.

He sucked in a breath for a moment before shrugging at her insults, “It was worth a shot.” Asora rolled her eyes at his statement, “you’re lucky the kid likes you or you’d be the next scrap pile.” She insulted as she turned towards the vent where Grogu was still sitting in, sighing loudly as she looked at the little green child.

“Are you done, cyar’ika?” He retorted as he moved to look into the vent with her, sparing her a glance as the affectionate nickname left his lips, and made its way through his modulator to her.

“I suppose.”

“Good…So, do you think you could fix the wiring with your force magic?” he inquired, turning his gaze from the child at the end of the vent to her, taking in her side profile as he waited for her response.

“Fine.”

Asora called Grogu over, and as she waited for him to waddle his way out of the vent and into her arms, as he was making his way to her she sent the Mandalorian a soft eye roll. 

Once the child was at the end of the vent she took his tiny body into her arms and bounced him a few times, brushing his grey hairs on his head and petting his ear sweetly to ensure he was as calm as can be.

He cooed at her softly and giggled at the gesture, Asora smiled in response and handed him to the Mandalorian once she was done caressing the child.

She focused her attention onto the wires, her eyebrows pinching together for a second as she used the force, effortlessly picking up the two wires and moving them back into their directed outlets. Once she plugged them in she turned towards the Mandalorian, “There. All fixed.” She exclaimed, turning to leave again, to occupy herself elsewhere.

“Thank you, cyar’ika.”

“You’re welcome, you big bucket.”

The Mandalorian scoffed at her comment, looking down towards the child in his arms as he shook his head at her, his eyes avoiding her as he thought to himself.

He wanted to tell her, he wanted her to know what his nickname for her meant. However, his common sense seemed to overrule his weird admiration for the girl, his yearning to know what her reaction to the truth behind the nickname.

Would she like it?

Mando shook his head to himself as he made his way down into the hull to join Asora, there’s no way she would like the nickname if she knew the truth behind it. It was better to keep this subtle admiration to himself.

He found Asora below readying a cup, she turned towards the two as they entered and offered them a smile.

“You guys want soup?”

The Mandalorian nodded in response, moving a few pieces of miscellaneous cargo to create a sort of bench to sit on, the heater placed in front of them to keep the comfortable and warm.

Grogu and Mando sat and waited patiently as Asora made the three of them the soup, offering them small little metal cups as she neared them, she pointed back towards her belongings gesturing towards the powder she used to make the soup.

“If you want more portions, you’re more than welcome.” She informed as she brought the small cup up to her lips, taking a small swig of the soup, offering the two a gut-wrenchingly sweet smile as she wiped her lips, her eyes shifting from theirs down at her cup as Mando began talking.

“When we visit our friends for repairs do you need to have anything done? For your lightsabers?” As he spoke, he brought the soup to his lips, pulling his helmet up for a moment, both Asora and Grogu looking over curiously as he raised his helmet. He exposed his chin and lips for a fraction of a second but it felt scandalously comfortable, an intimate moment the two Jedi didn't expect to have.

As quickly as he raised his helmet Asora moved her eyes to look away, worried that if she looked longer she would make him uncomfortable, or that it would break some sort of rule with his Creed.

“I- uh oh yea! No my saber’s will be fine for now, I may need to acquire more kyber crystals soon though...” She stuttered out, her voice soft and awkward as she nodded, her eyes focused on the small metallic bowl in her hands.

She felt bad for wanting to see more, for wondering what he looked like under his helmet. Her mind often wandered to little idealizations and daydreams of what he looked like but she never thought she would see so much of his face. She felt bad for intruding on him, for being so curious over something she knew he could never show her or explain completely.

“Kyber crystals? Aren't those pretty rare? Your weapon needs that?”

Asora nodded and took a sip, her eyes staying fixated onto her metallic bowl as she heard the soft hiss of his helmet pulling off of his head slightly so he could take another sip of the soup.

“Yes, it’s what gives the blades their color.”

“How is that possible?”

“It shifts to match the nature of its bonded owner, the crystal calls to you through the force, you hear the harmony of it. And once you have it, the color may change. Mine turned to green and my master’s purple.”

Mando nodded at the information, processing it slowly as he watched Asora take a small sip of her soup, her eyes avoiding his as he stared her down for a moment.

The moment passed quickly once Grogu began cooing and mumbling beside them, as if he could sense the growing tension between the two.

After they finished their soup the evening carried on as normally as possible. The three and the droid fixing minor issues on the hull and chatting every so often, the conversation never drifting to anything deep or serious, just mumblings for tools and quiet ‘thank you’s’.

After a while the Mandalorian left Asora with Grogu as he worked with MR in the cockpit, fixing the larger issues with the internal wiring. Though the Mandalorian wasn’t adamant on admitting it, he had grown fond of the chirpy droid, its usefulness was proved time and time again over the evening. He patted it on the head lightly as he moved to leave, bidding the droid a reasonably fond goodbye as he made his way down into the hull to put the child to bed, he himself quite tired after the long day.

Once he reached the bottom of the hull, he beelined for his bedroom quickly opening the hatch to his sleeping quarters in hopes of finding a sleeping Grogu in his makeshift hammock however he was nowhere to be found.

The Mandalorian exhaled loudly and turned on his heel to go and find the child and the girl only to turn himself onto a very unexpected scene.

Asora had laid out blankets and piled her cloak under her and Grogu’s head, making a large seemingly comfy bed on the floor of the ship.

He almost wanted to scoff at the sight, was his bed not comfortable enough for the two? Was sleeping on the floor entirely necessary?

Every thought he had in opposition of the bed they made on the floor was quickly dismissed by the soft snoring noises that cooed through the hull from both the child and Asora, Mando’s heartwarming at the sound.

Before he another moment to process he too was laying on the floor of the ship, moving as closely as he could towards his small sleeping foundling, the child making a physical barrier between him and Asora.

He moved his hand under his head, turning on his side to watch his two companion’s sleep. He let out a soft sigh in relaxation, while he wasn’t ever going to admit it. The floor was pretty comfortable.

He looked over towards Asora and Grogu beside him, his eyes drooping softly as he gazed at the two, the moment they were all sharing incredibly domestic, a somewhat foreign feeling to the creed driven bounty hunter.

Maybe this was bliss.

The two awoke from their slumber hours later, Grogu leaving the two of them to inch closer as they slept as he caused mischief around the ship.

Mando awoke first at the small pitter patter of Grogu’s feet around the hull, he looked around to ensure the child was safe before she turned back, his helmet inches from Asora, his arm slung around her waist.

It took him a moment to properly register what exactly he was doing but once he did he let out a soft groan in surprise, his eyes flickering from his arm slung around her towards their entwined legs, while it wasn’t the most contact in the world it still shook the Mandalorian to his core.

Dank Farrik. What was he supposed to do now?

He obviously needed to get himself out of the situation before Asora awoke, he feared the looming rejection he was soon to receive from her more than anything else.

While he didn’t particularly want to move out of their current position, he knew it wasn’t right to be so close to her without her consent. While he knew if she was really that uncomfortable, she would’ve unconsciously moved away in her sleep he still couldn’t help to feel the slightest tinge of guilt.

He promptly decided to free the two from their embrace, in one awkward movement he moved his legs in a hesitant and stiff motion to get them untangled from hers, the warmth of her legs leaving quickly as he shimmied away, pulling his arm from her waist as he scooted back a few inches.

He stayed on his side, his arm propped under his helmet as he looked over towards her sleeping figure, taking in her peaceful profile as he made himself comfortable. There’s no harm in looking at her like this right?

He laid gazing at her for a few minutes before she awoke, her eyes fluttering open slowly as she began to come to. He quickly closed his eyes as she began to awake, worried that she saw him look. It took him a second to completely register that he had his helmet on and that it didn’t matter if he was looking, it’s not like she could see through the helmet.

“Morning, Mando.” She greeted softly, her eyes still adjusting to the lighting in the ship, a small happy smile playing on her lips as she glanced over towards him.

“You knew I was awake?” He chimed back with surprise.

“I can feel it, I am a Jedi y’know.” Asora joked quietly, her eyes moving from his to look around the hull for the dark eyed mischievous child.

“I know.” He replied as he moved his gaze from her to the ceiling.

“We should get up, n’make sure the kid hasn’t destroyed the ship.” Mando mumbled out as he looked over towards Asora then back to the ceiling as he began to lift his body off of the floor.

Asora nodded in agreement, joining him as he got up, the two looking for the tiny green foundling hastily. Both of them ready to exit themselves from the seemingly awkward moment, the two wanting to talk more but neither showing it.

She had grown quite fond of his company, while initially she had joined him for the child. Joining purely to protect her kind it felt as if she had grown to care for and want to protect both of them. It was compassionate, caring, a beautiful feeling that though she wasnt happy to admit, she deeply enjoyed. But, with these feelings came confliction, while she could let them go, and celebrate what time they had, was that enough?

Once the two found the child and made their way back into the cockpit to begin navigating their way to Nevarro time passed quickly. Asora brewed on her thoughts as she absentmindedly played with Grogu in the cockpit, the Mandalorian busying himself in the pilot’s seat as he began readying the ship for the jump to lightspeed.

After a few calculations and with the flick of a few switches and everything was ready the Mandalorian made the jump into lightspeed. Once he pushed the ship into lightspeed he turned over towards Asora tilting his head at her as he took in her blank expression.

“You excited to go back?”

Asora’s eyes flickered from the wall she was blanky staring at towards the Mandalorian, nodding at his question.

She didn’t feel like now was the best time to tell him that soon after their arrival she’d be making a departure from the two to continue her own mission, she worried that it would upset him. While she wanted to stay, she felt guilty for not, she had to leave.

“I suppose.” She mused, offering the Mandalorian a soft smile in response.

Should she tell him?

He nodded at her response and turned his chair back towards the windows of the ship, the hyperspace reflecting off of his beskar.

He looked almost angelic in this light. The moment too peaceful, they were too content.

No, she couldn’t tell him now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝐡𝐞𝐲! 𝐢'𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰/ 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧!
> 
> 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡!! 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐬 !! 𝐭𝐲𝐭𝐲!
> 
> 𝐩.𝐬 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐦𝐤!


	18. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mando and Asora meet up with some old friends and go on a mission that reveals more than the group can stomach.

The group landed on Nevarro haphazardly, their entrance anything but swift and fluent due to the Crest’s damages. The main door of the hull lowering itself down and stopping midair to reveal the Asora, Mando, Grogu and MR as they approached the exit.

They were greeted by Greef Karga and Cara Dune, their expressions ecstatic and full of joy as they welcomed them to their town. 

Mando made an awkward jump down from the exit door onto the ground Gorgu in hand as he made his way towards Greef and Cara, Asora’s exit from the ship was much more graceful in comparison, the use of the force proving to be a lot handier than you’d expect. MR made its way down following Asora, the chirpy droid following her suit as he engaged his bottom blasters to float down onto the ground.

“Looks like someone could use some repairs.”

Mando groaned as he stabilized himself from the jump on the ground and raised his body back up, levelling it as he began to walk towards Greef.

“How’s my credit around here?” Mando inquired as the two shook hands, “I think something could be arranged. Isn’t that right, Marshal?”

“I’m sure we can work something out.” Cara smiled at the two, her eyes shifting from the Mandalorian to the cooing child in his arms. Grogu was relieved to see some familiar faces, and so was Asora.

“I’ll get my best people on it.” Greef chimed as he turned towards the workers behind him and instructed them to begin work on the Razor Crest before turning back towards the group.

“Come here, little one!” he greeted Grogu as he reached out and took him from the Mandalorians arms, “Has Mando been takin’ good care o’ you, huh? Have you two been takin’ good care o’ him?” Greef mused as the child cooed at him, the child tight in his arms as he looked over towards the two.

Asora let out a soft chuckle at the question, she didn’t think there were any two people in the galaxy that could possibly take better care of him than them.

“Yeah? Yeah! He said “yeah!” Oh, yeah.” Greef mused as he moved raising the child in the air as he inspected him, turning back towards the town as the group began moving.

Asora, MR, Mando and Cara trailed after Greef as he cooed at the child sweetly, Cara looked over towards Asora and MR to her left as she began to speak.

“You’re U-Wing’s all fixed, its over on the other side of town if you wanna take a look.”

Asora nodded eagerly, MR beeping curiously beside her at the conversation. Mando went silent, peering over towards her with his head tilted in confusion.

Why would she need her ship fixed?

“I cannot thank you enough for your kindness. As I said in my transmission, whatever credits you ask for, you will have.” Asora reminded as she offered both Cara and Greef a gracious smile.

“Oh no, no need for that right now! For now, let’s give you two the grand tour.” Cara excitedly responded, leading the two through the boisterous alleyways of Nevarro with various vendors and townsfolk enveloping the areas both Asora and Mando remembered as more… scummy to say the least.

The group followed Greef as he carried Grogu through the town, mindless chatter filling the air as Asora quietly trialed behind, a little lost in her thoughts. Should she tell him now? Or did he already get the memo that she was leaving from earlier?

She felt guilty, truly. But there wasn’t anything she could really do, was there?

By the end of the ‘grand tour’ the group arrived at the tavern they had been pinned down in when Moff Gideon first attacked them, Asoras brows raising in surprise as Greef let out a cheerful, “here we are.”

“I’m surprised to see this place is still standing.”

“Wait till you see inside.” Cara mused as she turned towards Mando, sending both him and Asora a wide grin, excitement brewing in the air at the expectation.

“Well, I suppose it couldn’t look worse than what we left it as.” Asora mused as she glanced over towards Mando as the two of them began to make their way into the building, he let out a soft huff in response, Asora couldn’t tell if it was a laugh or some form of scoff but she was happy to get a response nonetheless.

The group of five stepped into the newly renovated classroom, the teacher droid at the end of the classroom monotonously inquiring about the major trade routes in the galaxy as they took in the unexpected sight.

The classroom was lined with desks and children, learning as happily as younglings could. Asora was shook with some form of shock and joy, it was a beautiful sight, to see the young townsfolk learning in an area of the town that was once more deadly than they could imagine.

The Mandalorian was as surprised as his Jedi counterpart, his mouth agape in shock, while no one could see if through his helmet his expression did show how truly was amazed he was. He knew Cara and Greef were going to improve Nevarro but this much? In what felt like such little time? That was just absolutely crazy to him.

“A school?” he mustered out as he stepped forward, glancing at the classroom then back towards Greef and Cara.

“Things have changed a lot around here.”

“We’re gonna leave the little one here so we can talk business.” Greef explained as he began stepping towards the desks, eager to get Grogu into safe hands to the group could talk privately.

“Wait. Wherever I go, he goes.”

“Mando please. Where we're going, you don’t wanna take a child. Trust me.”

Asora turned towards Mando as she nodded in agreement, though the child's safety was always top priority it was clear that this town wasn’t how they left it and that the child, if anything would be safer here than with them.

“He is right. He will be safe here, if he needs us, I will know.” Asora assured, her hand going up to grab Mando’s arm to tug him back lightly.

The Mandalorians gaze flickered from his foundling to the woman beside him and nodded in agreement, though he wasn’t happy about it in the slightest, she was right.

“He’ll be fine here. You have my word.” Cara agreed as she looked over towards the two, a little surprised at their physical fondness, while she knew Mando and Asora were on good terms the moment she witnessed them share made her wonder for a moment, were they more than friends?

Asora pulled her hand from Mando’s arm as the group watched Greef place the child onto a chair, MR beeped curiously beside Asora as the group went silent for a moment. Asora turned to the droid and smiled happily in response extending her hand to give the droid a soft pat on the head as Greef neared them again.

“Come on.” Greef gestured as he swiftly exited the classroom, the group following suit, both Asora and Mando giving Grogu a few bittersweet parental glances back towards Grogu, one last look at the cheerful little green child before they headed into whatever chaos Greef had planned for them.

After the group left, they made their way to what seemed to be Greef Karga’s office, as they entered a Mythrol man was mumbling about the registration of a ship. When he was met with the Mandalorian as his audience his eyes went wide, his posture shrinking as the two made eye contact

“I believe you two have met.” Greef stated as Mando trailed behind him, his stature strong and intimidating almost wanting the man to shrivel in his presence.

Asora probably would’ve been intimidated by him too if she was in the Mythrol’s shoes, however what the Mythrol didn’t know was how much of a buckethead the Mandalorian could be, so to her there was no reason to actually be intimidated by the tin man.

“I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Right back at ya.”

Asora smiled at him softly, ignoring the awkward tension between the two.

“Mythrol here’s taken care of my books since he was a pollywog. But, then he disappeared one day after a bit of “creative accounting.””

“Magistrate Karga was generous enough to let me work off my debt. Thank you, by the way.”

“Three hundred and fifty years, but who’s counting?”

“Well, if he runs off on you again, let me know.”

Asora quirked her brow at the Mandalorians offer, I guess the bounty hunting days aren’t exactly over for him she thought, her eyes moved from the Mandalorian to the Mythrol again, awaiting his nervous response

“Let me assure you, I do not wanna spend any more time in carbonite… Still can’t see outta my left eye.”

“Better blind than dead.” Asora joked, offering a little humor to the tense situation, it was clear this interaction was going on a bit too long for everyones taste.

The Mythrol nodded eagerly in response, letting out an awkward laugh as he agreed, the moment was quickly shut down by Cara as she moved towards the other side of the room.

“Can we talk business?”

“I’m only here for repairs.” Mando argued, though he was always happy to help he wasn’t the most eager to fight right now, not after his last endeavour with the Kryze clan.

“Which’ll take a while. Which means you’ll have free time on your hands, right?... Plus, Asora owes us for fixing her ship, this would be better payment than credits…. And we could really use your guys help.”

Asora nodded in response, “how would you like us to help?” she inquired, the Mandalorian to her left nodding at her statement in curiosity, offering her a short glance from the side as he moved his head.

Cara began booting up a map of Nevarro and explaining their current issue, once Cara and Greef explained the importance of the group taking out the last imperial base on Nevarro Mando agreed to help, the group quickly devised a game plan for the mission and split up to ready themselves for the mission at hand.

Asora, Mando and MR left the building to retrieve some of the Mandalorian’s weapons from his ship, once they were ready they would rendezvous with Cara, Greef and the Mythrol at his speeder to leave for the mission.

The walk towards the Crest was quiet, the only sounds to be heard was the bustling of the busy town and MR’s quiet chirps and beeps as they walked. After a few moments of silence, the Mandalorian finally spoke,

“So…Why did you get your ship fixed?”

“You know why, Mando.” Asora sighed, looking over to him with soft eyes, now was the worst time for this conversation.

“I don’t.”

Mando looked over towards her as the two came to a halt, standing only metres away from the crest, as the two stood quiet for a moment he looked down at her with careful eyes, as if this would be the last time he saw her.

“We should speak about this after the mission, we have more dire things at hand than my plans with my ship.”

“Do we?” He urged, stepping forward as he stared her down, his helmet shifted down towards her, almost as if he was trying to intimidate her, to scare her into telling him the truth.

“You know we do.” She barked back, in a tone he hadn’t heard since the two had first met, a stern an almost all-knowing voice.

“Cyarika.” He urged, his hands yearning to touch her, to pull her in close and force the truth out of her, anything to get the truth, to get her to stay.

“Mando, there is no point in arguing about this we have places to be. If we must talk about this may it be after the mission and not now?”

Asora’s gaze was firm on him, her eyes pleading with him but her expression strong, did she not care? Could she not feel how he felt right now?

He huffed in response and nodded stiffly, “fine.”

Asora let out a soft breath she was holding in in response, nodding at him as he turned to leave, making his way into the crest ahead of her Asora turned towards her unusually quiet driod and sighed softly. 

“that wasn’t so bad, was it?” The droid beeped sassily in response, as if to say ‘you sure about that?’ Asora rolled her eyes playfully and shook her head, turning back towards the crest as she made her way back up to retrieve her sabers and armour.

The three made their way to the rendezvous point after retrieving their weapons and ammo, the air thick with tension as they approached the speeder, it was clear to the group that there was tension, however it was also clear that it was in their best interest not to speak of it.

After a few minutes of mindless bickering between Greef and the Mythrol on the way to the Imperial base, they finally arrived and exit what seemed to be the tensest speeder ride anyone had been on.

Asora, Cara, Mando, Greef and MR walked up towards the door as the Mythrol waited in the speeder, once they reached the doors the Mandalorian approached the control panel, fidgeting with the buttons for a few moments before turning towards the group.

“Controls are useless. They’re melted.”

“Well, it’s probably not rated for lava.”

“Imperial trash.” Cara scoffed as she looked over towards the control panel as MR made its way towards it, beginning to fidget and fix it as quickly as he could.

“All right I’m headed back… Hit me up on the comm we could set up a rendezvous time.” The Mythrol ordered as he began booting up his speeder, Asora crossed her arms and tilted her head at him.

Like hell he’d be going anywhere.

“You park your gills right there until I say otherwise.”

“I’m start to dehydrate boss.”

“Okay, how does 30 more years off your debt sound?”

“Can you at least be quick about it?”

“You wanna be quick? Grab a flange cutter and help this little droid out.” Greef demanded as he began pointing his finger at the man. Asora peered over to him in surprise, while she knew he was a businessman she hadn’t gotten to properly see his bargaining skills in action.

She was surprised at how good of a leader he could be, when he wanted to.

After a few moments of the Mythrol meandering over he finally joined the droid and began to help. Once he joined the Mandalorian began examining the fortress above them, coming to a helpful conclusion that it would be quicker if he went above and got the elevator working there rather than here.

“Hold tight.” Mando instructed as he ignited his jetpack and propelled himself into the air.

After what felt like an eternity and more bickering between Cara and the Mythrol, MR fixed the control panel, the Mythrols help proving to be slightly useless.

Greef cheered as the doors opened, the four of them and the droid entering as quickly as possible, as they settled into the elevator a storm trooper fell in front of them, the doors closing as he hit the ground, Asora winced at the sight.

While she wasn’t fond of the Imperials at all in any shape or form, falling to your death from a canyon at the hands of a Mandalorian wasn’t exactly the way to go. A good quick blaster shot to the head seemed a lot classier, in her opinion at least.

Once the elevator doors opened at the top of the base, they were met with Mando, his blaster in hand as he turned to them, “empty base, huh?” he mused, the group exiting the elevator cautiously as they began to move out.

“The reactor should be set in the heat shaft. If we drain the cooling lines, this whole base will go up in a matter of minutes.”

Asora nodded in agreement, glancing around the area as the group readied themselves to go inside.

“Look. It’s a mint Trexler Marauder. Y’kno how much we can get for this on the black market?”

“And it’s gonna get vaporized like the rest of this base. Now let’s go.”

Asora set out with Mando, following his lead, the group moving as a unit as the Mythrol trailed behind, it was clear this wasn’t exactly his forte, even MR seemed to be in more of a ‘mission mode’ than him.

The group made their way towards the command room as quickly as expected, Cara knocked the commanding officer out within seconds, with Mando hastily shutting down all controls and cameras as Greef stole the command key from the passed-out Imperial. The Mythrol took the gun from the man and Asora stood guard at the door.

Once Mando found the heat shaft they headed out again, all of them feeling reasonably comfortable, however the fact that it was all was going according to plan left Asora on edge, she treaded lightly beside her droid, her senses on high alert.

If Asora knew anything, it was that it was always best to expect the worst, especially from Imperials.

“The access corridor should be right past this junction.” Mando directed as he lead the group through the hallway, the five of them made it to their destination scot free, their only hiccup being an almost run in with storm troopers.

After a few moments of fiddling with the code cylinder they made their way in, with Asora and MR standing guard at the doors as the rest of them made their way to drain the coolant lines of the reactors.

The faint bickering between Mythrol and Greef echoed through the hallway as they started to deactivate the reactors. Asora let out a soft huff in amusement as she listened to the two, her back turned to them and her eyes trained on the area in front of her.

After a few moments the group quickly made their way out, everyone engaging in a sprint, after a few turns down the hallway they eventually made their way into a separate control room.

Once they entered shots began to fire back and forth, Asora’s blades igniting as a reaction. She began moving them side to side and up and down, flying them through the air as quick as the bullets flew towards them, blocking all shots that would prove harmful to any member of the group.

Though they were reasonably used to the lightsabers, it still came as a shock to Cara and Greef when they saw the green and purple blades, there really was no weapon like it in the galaxy.

Once the two Imperial workers were taken out, the five of them spread out into the room and upon further inspection discovered that the area had been used as some sort of convoluted subject submersion area,

“What the…”

“I thought you said this was a forward operating base.” Cara inquired, her face barren of all emotion as she looked over towards Greef, everyone in the group was shocked at the sight before them.

The rows of tanks, filled with some sort of clone. Rows of blue tanks filled with wasted potential, wasted life force, all for the Empires benefit.

“I thought it was.”

“No, this isn’t a military operation.”

“This is a lab.” Asora confirmed, she reached her hand out and pressed it against the glass as she closed her eyes, she knew whatever these beings were, that they weren’t alive. But it burdened her, it hurt her to see these test subjects, this wasn’t a good life, or any kind of life at all.

“We need to get into the system and figure out whats going on.” Cara demanded as she looked over towards the Mythrol, Asora nodded in agreement as she pulled her hand from the tanks glass.

“MR try find any left over data files in the system.” Asora instructed as she gestured towards the control panel, the droid beeped in response and turned, wheeling itself over to the control system.

“I don’t like this.” Mando spoke, his voice rough and confused, Asora nodded in agreement as she inched closer towards him, “neither do I.”

After a few moments of MR and the Mythrol working on the control panel a transmission appeared, a doctor began addressing the room, causing all heads to turn towards the two.

“Replicated the results of the subsequent trials, which also resulted in catastrophic failure. There were promising effects for an entire fortnight, but then, sadly the body rejected the blood. I highly doubt we’ll find a donor with a higher M-count, though. I recommend that we suspend all experimentation. I fear that the volunteer will meet the same regrettable fate if we proceed with the transfusion. Unfortunately, we have exhausted our initial supply of blood. The child is small, and I was only able to harvest a limited amount without killing him…”

The room was tense, Asora’s mouth shut tight with her jaw clenched, anger, fear and resentment filling her entire being as the transmission continued.

“If these experiments are to continue as requested, we would again require access to the donor. I will not disappoint you again, Moff Gideon.”

“This must be an old transmission. Moff Gideon is dead.” Mando informed, too sure of himself, so sure that he worried himself.

“No. This recordings three day old.”

Asora’s throat went dry, she looked towards her droid before barking out an order towards it, “Is that true MR?”

The droid beeped in agreement, her jaw clenched tighter, she felt all the emotions she was meant to keep out of her. She felt rage, anger, disappointment, resentment and fear. Only for a moment, it washed away as quickly as it came, she was sure of herself, she knew who she was, and she wouldn’t let her control her. But for a moment it was there, complete and utter regret.

“I should have killed him. I should have known; I was there I had the chance.” Asora’s voice came out loud and fierce, the room almost shaking with her words.

The Mandalorian looked over to her in surprise, the group following suit. How could she have known he wasn’t dead? Why was she so mad?

“You couldn’t have known. None of us did.” Cara responded, as she spoke her last word she was interrupted by incoming stormtroopers. Everyone quickly turning towards them with blasters ready.

Asora shook her head and turned towards them, her saber blades reignited and pointing down scratching at the floor, searing it as she made her path towards them. The blaster shots flew around her, and in her haze, in her momentary bliss, in what felt like an eternity of waiting to finally strike back she unleashed something she didn’t know she had in her.

She stood in the hallway, her saber blades dancing around her as she struck down the storm troopers before her, it was almost like a dance, a dance none of them knew. Each movement she was one step ahead and it was always unexpected, a haze of green and purple flying through the air as she took out the small squads of troopers as they pooled in. She was ready for their fury, their shots, their anger far before they were, she accepted it on her own volition and used hers to her advantage. Taking them all down with a comfortable ease.

The group in the back continued to fire blaster shots to aid her, but it was clear she could handle her own. Once the last trooper had fallen, impaled by her green blade she turned back towards them. The room filling with a sweet silence, a moment of relief.

She let out a heavy breath as she looked back at them, a single bead of sweat sliding down the side of her forehead.

This was what she had been training for, this is what she had wanted for all those years.

She had just used form VII.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨!
> 
> 𝐢 𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐢 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐢 𝐢 𝐣𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐮𝐮𝐭 𝐢'𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐧𝐚 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲!!
> 
> 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐢 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐛 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐝!
> 
> 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭!
> 
> 𝐩.𝐬. 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 ! & 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐞 :)


	19. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mission on Nevarro comes to an end and a dreaded conversation begins

The short moment of exhilaration, of what felt like pure bliss to Asora was cut short, she met Mando’s gaze as she came to, “Go to the child. Now” she instructed, while she hadn’t felt anything particularly worrisome in the force it was better to be safe than sorry.

The Mandalorian was on the exact same page, he nodded at her as she began walking towards the group, “Be safe.” She whispered to him softly as the two passed, almost yearning to go with him, but she knew it was better to stay with the group in case anymore issues arose.

“We’ll head to the speeder and meet you in town.” Cara agreed, the group backing up and beginning to make their way back out as the Mandalorian left them to partake on his own mission.

“Come on, let’s go!” Greef yelled as the Mythrol, MR and Asora hastily made their way back into a somewhat planned group formation.

“When did you say this place was gonna blow again?” The Mythrol inquired breathily as he made his way out. His legs were carrying him faster than expected, he was clearly shaken by their last interactions with the stormtroopers.

“Sooner than you’d like.” Asora responded as the group made their way through the hallways, adrenaline powering their footsteps as they moved. Asora stayed at the back of the group, her eyes and ears on high alert.

After a few moments of running another small squad of stormtroopers rushed in, with blaster shots flying back and forth between groups quicker than expected, Asora raised both of her hands and threw the four troopers back against the far wall, knocking them out upon impact, she felt hot handed, like a bright flame.

She almost felt like she was pulsating with the force, as if she was a beacon of energy, she could expel on anyone at any moment, she didn’t use the force as violently as expected though. There was some well-mannered ease in her being, it was refreshing after the past few hours of guilt and bickering.

As the group continued on, she followed in the back, letting Cara’s aggressive blaster maneuvers take care of the troopers in the front as she waited for another attack from behind, she liked this. She liked the rush of a mission, the thrill of teamwork. It’s something she hadn’t known she’d missed; she was no longer filled with rage, anger and resentment, she was concentrated and calm.

The four of them made their way outside onto the platform with the elevator they had previously made their way up from, the group quickly ran to hide behind a small barricade as a group of troopers exited the elevator, Asora stood blocking and redirecting their shots back at them with her saber as she began yelling directions at Cara and her droid.

“Cara, MR get to the Trexler, we’ll cover you.”

MR beeped excitedly in response as it swivelled and turned, wheeling itself over towards the ship as Cara nodded in response, sprinting as quickly as she could manage into the hull of the machine.

While the two began booting up the ship Asora, Greef and the Mythrol continued to fire and redirect shots back at the troopers, taking the group out with relative ease. Just as the group got down to the last of the troopers Cara and MR backed the Trexler up and opened the side door to the three with Cara calling out, “what are you guys waiting for, an invitation? Let’s move!”

“Go! Go, go, go!” Asora and Greef called out as they backed up into the vehicle, both shooting and sending back bullets as fluently as possibly while the Mythrol rushed into the Trexler.

Once the group quickly settled into the vehicle Asora disengaged her lightsabers and turned towards the control rig with the Mythrol, Greef and Cara, Cara launched the troop transport over the ledge, and into the empty lava ravine.

As the transport vessel flew down the side of the ravine the group screamed in unison, MR beeping worriefly as it lifted off the floor of the vehicle a few inches into the air, fortunately for the group they had the Mythrol’s speeder to cushion their land, flattening it to a pulp.

“Wait. Was that my speeder…” the Mythrol called out in surprise, however his question was silenced by the boost of speed, pushing both the Mythol, Asora and Greef onto the ground as MR slid back into the hull and bumped into the wall.

Panicked yells and beeps filled the vessel, they died down slowly as everyone began adjusting to the newfound momentum and speed of the vehicle. Once everyone stabilized themselves and got back into position at the controls Asora looked back behind them to find three troopers on speeder bikes tailing them.

“Man the guns!”

“Copy that.” Greef responded as he got out of the front seat and made his way into the back of the ship to the blaster control station.

As Greef left Asora began thinking of a way to maneuver onto the roof of the transport vessel without falling off, after a few moments of looking around the ship for possible exit routes she pushed to the side and shimmied herself out of the left window in the front of the ship and pulled herself on top of the deathly fast speeder.

She crouched on the roof as she waited for the two troopers on speeder bikes to sandwich the ship, then she moved her hand to quickly flick the trooper to her left off of the speeder and into the rubble behind them, she then jumped from the vessel onto the bike and slowed the speed down to come behind the trooper on the right of the ship.

As she sped up behind him, she realized he was trying to climb onto the transport, she hastily shot at him, the speeder bike blasters quickly destroying the now vacant bike in front of her. she groaned at the sight of the flying debris as she sped up, once she passed the debris and reached a reliable speed she stood up from the bike and shimmied back into the transport and called back to Greef.

“He’s on top!”

There was no vocal reaction from Greef, but it was clear he heard her call from the blast above them, signaling to the group that the final trooper had been dealt with.

A momentary wave of relief waved over the passengers in the transport, however that wave was quickly washed out when the chilling whirr of TIE fighters rung through the air.

Asora made her way back towards Greef and situated herself beside the control chair he was in to offer he support. Once the TIE fighters came into view, she closed her eyes and reached out her hand, pulling one of them closer, holding it in place so the blaster calibration could lock onto it, ensuring Greef could get a good shot at it.

Her helped proved to be useful when Greef shot down the fighter, however something they didn’t expect from the blast was the backlash of debris that flew towards them, effectively taking out the blasters and knocking the two onto their backs.

The two groaned in response and pushed themselves back up as quickly as possible, the two of them rushing to the cockpit, hopeful that the city would be in close proximity, and that this fight would soon be over.

“We’re almost there!” the Mythrol called out as the group stared at the land in front of them with hardened faces as they sped through it.

The presence of more TIE fighters was made clear by the continuous blaster shots directed at the vehicle, after a few missed shots the TIE fighters flew infront of the ship and moved to circle around, but to the groups surprise one of the three ships was shot down.

Asora’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she watched the TIE fighter dissipate in the sky, however her confusion washed away as the Razor Crest flew into view.

Her lips broke out into a wide grin at the sight, she’d never been so happy to see that hunk of junk in her life, she joined the group in their cheers of excitement as they made their way back to the city as the TIE fighters flew out of view to participate in a more challenging battle.

Once the transport reached the city everyone hastily poured out of the vessel and looked up into the sky, wishing and waiting for the Mandalorian to take out the other ships.

Asora felt a pit grow in her stomach as she looked up at the cloudy blue sky, her binoculars in her hands raised to her eyes, scanning over what felt like every piece of the sky for a fragment of them, just to make sure they made it out safe.

After a few moments of searching the Crest flew out, exiting the clouds victorious. Asora let out an excited yell as they came into view, lowering her binoculars to celebrate with the rest of the group.

Soon after the Crest landed by the transport and was welcomed with open arms, everyone pumped up with adrenaline, after a few expressions of thanks and gratitude the group parted ways with the promise of drinks another time, after the Mandalorians visit to Corvus.

As everyone began parting ways Asora made her way into the hull with Mandalorian and the child, “I can’t believe you made the little one sick from all that.” She mused as she looked over towards the big-eyed green child, his lips and clothing-stained blue from his afternoon snack.

“I know.” He agreed, his voice laced with amusement, while cleaning up the child wasn’t exactly enjoyable it was funny, at least it would teach the little foundling not to indulge himself too much in life’s delicacies.

The Mandalorian placed the child down to play with Asora’s droid as the two moved deeper into the hull, sitting down on top of a few pieces of cargo to have a conversation he had been dreading since they had landed on Nevarro.

A pit grew in his stomach as silence filled the tension between the two of them, both of their joyful demeanours from the past hours adventures dying down into an almost somber tone.

The two sat avoiding eye contact for a few moments, Mando’s eyes trained on the walls of the ship behind Asora and Asora’s eyes drifting around from Grogu and MR to various miscellaneous objects strewn about in the hull.

“Mando-“

“You’re leaving.” He interrupted his voice blunt, monotonous, nothing like she remembered it, nothing like she knew him as.

“I- Yes. I’m leaving.” She agreed, her stomach dropping as she spoke, though she knew what she was doing was right, she didn’t know if it felt right in that moment. To leave them, after everything they had been through.

“Were you going to tell me? Us?”

“Of course, I was.” Her voice came out strained and empathetic, her eyebrows pinching together in confusion, did he think she was just going to leave them in the middle of the night? Did he think that she wanted to tell him this way?

“Why didn’t you?”

“Mando, I- I very dearly wanted to. There was never an opportune time, I meant not to upset you.”

“What did you mean then?” he inquired, his voice almost bitter, how could she not tell him? how could she just leave them? Was it that easy to her?

“You cannot be angry with me over this. You know my objective, what I have been working towards.” Her demeanour slowly changed, it wasnt as soft and empathetic as before, not it was stern and calm. She didn’t like the idea of upsetting him like this, it made her ache, it made her want to stay but she knew she couldn’t. It’s for the best.

“I’m not angry.” His voice came out harsh, a little harsher than he wanted, he could see it on her face in her eyes that he was hurting her, that they were hurting each other.

Another moment of silence filled the space between the two, the giggles and coos coming from Grogu behind them as they spoke, a sweet sound for a very bitter moment.

“Stay.” His voice came out shaky, almost a whisper as he looked over towards her with pleading eyes, she had to stay. They could complete their quests together, couldn’t they?

“You don’t understand, Mando I cant.” She pleaded softly, her strong demeanor breaking as she leaned closer towards him.

“What am I supposed to understand?”

“You’re objective is Ahsoka Tano, mine is Skywalker. I cannot just give up my mission for yours.” Her voice was stronger, laced with emotion as she spoke, he shook his head silently for a moment.

“I am not asking you too.”

“But you are Mando, you know you are.”

He stood up from his seat and turned his back to her, reflecting to himself for a moment. He wasn’t asking that much from her, was he?

“We can do both.” He bargained as he turned towards her with hopeful eyes.

“You know we cannot, this is my way and you have yours…. I have never questioned yours, why must you question mine?” Though her voice was pleading and almost emotionless she was filled with regret, she needed to meditate. To think things through, this wasn’t the Jedi way to feel so emotional over something so trivial. To care so deeply for someone like this, she wouldn’t let it get in her way of completing her last mission her master gave her, she couldn’t.

“You have had no reason to question my creed, I have reason to question yours.”

“Oh you do, do you?” she inquired, her voice filled with sarcasm as she stood, her stature strong, her eyebrows pinched together and her face hardened into an expectant expression.

“From what I have seen, yeah.” He smugly responded, as he brought his hands up and gave a small gesture to around them.

“If you think my leaving is reason enough to question my way, you know nothing. You hide behind a helmet, at least I can see things as they are, Mandalorian.”

Her voice cut through him like a knife, but the pain of the hit was only momentary, lasting seconds before his emotions shifted to anger. She had no right, to question something, to poke at his way, to belittle it.

“I see clearer than ever, I know how to feel, I have emotions and I care for others. The helm of Mandalore does not hide my truths, my character.” He barked back, stepping forward to challenge her. If they were going to go down fighting, might as well fight hard.

“Your truths? Your character? You are a bounty hunter, whatever truths you have are tainted with the pain of others.” She challenged as she stepped closer, the tension between the two thicker than ever.

“You know nothing about what I have done.”

“Do I need to? Is this ship not evidence enough? You are raising a youngling with carbonite trophies, relics of who you truly are.”

Silence filled the room as he looked around the ship momentarily, brewing for a moment as he looked back at her, her once soft eyes hardened with emotion, her usual happy demeanour replaced with a stern façade. This was not who she was.

He stepped closer and the two holding an almost unbreakable amount of eye contact, his eyes flickering from hers for a moment as he spoke.

“So, this is your opinion of me.”

The silence after his words was deafening as the two stared each other down quietly as they took in the other expressions. Mando looked down at her, his helmet tilted slightly as he analyzed her face, her expression, her words as she looked at him, her jaw clenched, her head tilted up as she took in his expressionless helmet, his beskar staring down at her emotionlessly as she thought.

Her demeanour broke first, she sighed loudly and brought her hand up to rub her face, to almost refresh herself, to reboot her emotions. As she broke eye contact Mando stared at the wall behind her head, completely zoning out. He felt almost numb, it was eating him alive, could she really think so little of him?

“Mando…” her voice was soft, her eyes softening as his gaze moved to hers, as he looked down, he realized what she was saying, she didn’t want to leave like this. If she did, she would have already left, there was guilt, she felt something.

The two slowly leaned closer, their eyes flickering over each other, yearning for each other.

“I know.” He agreed, his voice almost as soft as hers, his demeanour breaking with hers.

“I will see you two again, I will find you again.” She promised as she reached over and touched his arm lightly in reassurance her eyes hopeful and lips lathered with a bittersweet smile.

“I know, cyar'ika.” Her smile faltered slightly at the sound of the nickname, an affectionate term she’d miss. Her eyes drifted from his helmet to her hands for a moment before she looked up and nodded, her feet taking a cautious step back from him slowly.

He watched her gather her things slowly, an uncomfortable silence filling the hull, once she said her sweet goodbyes to Grogu she turned to him again, the four of them at the end of the landing gate.

His eyes glossed over as he looked over towards her, the two were only a foot away but it felt like miles, she offered him a small smile, as she adjusted her backpack, and looked down towards MR at her side then back to him as they began to leave, her eyes soft, almost yearning for him as much as he did her.

“Goodbye, Mando.”

“Goodbye, Cyar'ika.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝐡𝐞𝐲! 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫.. 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐡𝐡! 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝.. 𝐢 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 !
> 
> 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭!! 𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭!!
> 
> 𝐩.𝐬 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝


End file.
